The European Union vowed “substantial” contributions to a fund aimed at helping vulnerable countries cope with severe weather, but the extent of that support remains unclear.
The pledge comes after negotiators agreed earlier this month to a framework for the Loss and Damage fund at COP28. The two-week United Nations’ climate summit will start in Dubai from Nov. 30.
The EU will lay out the details of its funding during the first few days of the summit, according to a statement published following a meeting between Wopke Hoekstra, the bloc’s climate commissioner, and COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber in Brussels.
What Is COP28 and Why Is It Important?
The creation of the fund was seen as a significant symbolic victory for climate vulnerable countries at last year’s summit in Egypt, but it has proved tricky to set up. Negotiators agreed that the World Bank will host a new Loss and Damage Fund on an interim basis for four years, but it is still uncertain who will pay into it and the scale of finance that will be provided.
The US will also “put several million dollars in the fund,” John Kerry, the country’s climate envoy, said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore last week. The EU is also pushing the United Arab Emirates to also make a contribution, according to people familiar with the matter.
Al Jaber acknowledged that countries “want to see language on fossil fuels and renewables in the negotiated text,” according to the statement at Brussels.
Financing the loss and damage fund is only one of the issues at stake during this year’s summit. Countries will also conduct a “stocktake” of where the world is at to keeping global warming below 1.5C, with the EU pushing for a commitment to phase out unabated fossil fuels.
--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.
