As Earth heads towards climate hell, COP27 in Egypt ended on a hopeful note with an agreement on a ‘Loss and Damage Fund’. Countries agreeing to establish a new funding window for loss and damage is a significant milestone in the negotiations, as the issue has been added to the official agenda and adopted for the first time at COP27.
The fund is expected to assist countries most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
“Countries that are most likely to receive support include SIDS (Small Island Developing States), a group of low-lying coastal and small island states that are among the least responsible for climate change (those who contributed to the world’s GHG contributed less than 1% to the PSUs and who first called for the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund). It will also support least developed countries (LDCs) such as Bangladesh and Nepal, and developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, such as Pakistan. The fund is likely to seek contributions from developed countries so that it can be launched with a scope for identifying and expanding various sources of funding, including the private sector and philanthropy,” said Ajita Tiwari Padhi, head of land use at the India Climate Collaborative. Manages the program. ICC).
India has been very vocal about the contribution of developed countries to energy transition, climate change adaptation and making sure that global warming does not increase further. “Last year in Glasgow, India called for a tenfold increase in annual climate finance to $1 trillion. India, along with other participants, reiterated that a long-term, flexible and climate-specific allocation between adaptation and mitigation is essential as part of such a commitment,” said Inderjit Singh, Partner, Deloitte India.
However, the EU, the US insisted during the COP27 negotiations that nations that are both high GHG emitters but are still considered developing (such as India and China) should also pay into the fund, including the newly wealthy Countries include Saudi Arabia, Singapore and South. Korea.
There are murmurs that countries like India are not benefiting from the proposed Loss and Damage Fund, given that it is the third largest GHG emitter. “This would be ironic given India’s high vulnerability to the effects of climate change – India ranked 7th in the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 by Germanwatch and ICC- CEEW research – 27 out of 35 states and union territories at risk of extreme hydro-weather disasters and their complex effects,” Padhi said.
Echoing the sentiment, Singh said, “India needs sustained investment in its environmentally sensitive sectors using domestic resources, international loans and global commitments such as the climate fund agreed in 2009, $100 billion between 2020 can come from ensuring an annual flow of Rs. By 2025.
However, the details regarding the operation of the new loss and damage fund will be worked out by a ‘transitional committee’ set up to perform this task.
