Abu Dhabi: UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber today (April 30) addressed the ‘First Meeting of the Board of the Fund for responding to loss and damage’ and urged Parties to “build on progress” and deliver “lasting, positive, socio-economic impact” to help the most vulnerable to climate change. During his address, Al Jaber said that while delivering an agreement to operationalise the Fund at COP28 was a “huge breakthrough for climate progress”, more needs to be done.
Addressing the ‘First Meeting of the Board of the Fund for responding to loss and damage’, COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber urged Parties to build on progress with a fully functioning fund that delivers lasting, positive, socio-economic impact.
The historic agreement to… pic.twitter.com/69LiJAgl82
— COP28 UAE (@COP28_UAE) April 30, 2024
Also Read: COP28 President Calls For Unprecedented Action To Deliver UAE Consensus
The COP28 President said,
Let’s make sure we build on that progress with a fully functioning fund. A Fund that is endorsed at COP29 in Baku, a Fund that is disbursing funds soon after and a Fund that delivers lasting, positive, socio-economic impact for decades to come.
Loss and damage was first put on the COP agenda in 1991 and that “while it took over three decades to establish this Fund, climate change has not stood still. Every region of the world is now vulnerable…the impacts of climate change are a clear and present danger to lives and livelihoods everywhere.”
Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability and the UAE representative on the Board, said,
Parties made history on the first day of COP28 by operationalising the funding arrangements and Fund for loss and damage after 30 years. This outcome reflected global solidarity among all Parties to support developing countries that are particularly vulnerable. The Board plays an important role in delivering on this mandate in an ambitious manner. We must leave this first meeting with strong foundations and an outcome we can all be proud of.
The agreement to operationalise and capitalise the Fund, which will assist developing countries who are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, was passed on the first day of COP28 – the first time such a substantive decision had been made on the first day of a COP.
A total of USD 792 million has been pledged for loss and damage funding arrangements – of which USD 662 million has been pledged to the Fund to date – including USD 100 million from the UAE.
Also Read: COP28 Roundup: The Hits, Misses And What’s In It For India
“That was a good start. It is not enough,” Al Jaber said.
I call on all Parties who can to come forward with concrete commitments. Let’s make this Fund robust; let’s make this Fund efficient.
The Fund “should help real people in vulnerable communities to recover from climate impacts,” he stated. “It should build back those communities better, stronger and with more resilience. And it should improve lives and livelihoods for the long term.”
“Along with the UAE Consensus, the decision on loss and damage was a huge breakthrough for climate progress,” Al Jaber declared and “set a new pace in climate action”, with support for loss and damage having been on the COP agenda since 1991.
Last year’s decision to implement the Fund followed a series of transitional committee meetings in the run-up to COP28, including Transitional Committee Five, which was hosted in Abu Dhabi after preceding meetings had reached an impasse.
Loss and damage is essential even if the world meets climate mitigation goals because current levels of warming already significantly impact particularly vulnerable communities. These groups are being hit by increased extreme weather events, such as storms and floods, reduced agricultural productivity, and rising sea levels.
The Board meeting was held today and took place in Abu Dhabi. Board members represent a diverse range of nations and experiences of the impact of climate change. The Board members include representatives from developed countries, Asian-Pacific, African, Latin American and Caribbean states, Small Island Developing States, and least-developed countries.
Also Read: Analysis: Despite COP28 Deal On Fossil Fuels, 1.5 Degrees Celsius Goal Likely Out Of Reach
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
