Quakers Australia has joined Quakers in Britain by signing on to an open letter that will be sent to the Heads of States, Environment Ministers, President of COP26, Alok Sharma and the Heads of Delegations, prior to the start of COP26, expressing the urgency that COP26 must deliver on Loss & Damage Finance.
The projected economic cost of loss and damage by 2030 is estimated to be between 290 and 580 billion USD in developing countries alone. Scaled up finance at a level commensurate with the need is therefore essential for vulnerable countries and communities to recover from the climate impacts they are already facing to rebuild their livelihoods and economies. While finance for averting and minimising Loss and Damage has been mobilised in the form of finance for mitigation and adaptation, finance for addressing Loss and Damage remains lacking, apart from highly insufficient humanitarian aid.
Drawing on the recent research by the Stockholm Environment Institute’s research as well as a series of briefing papers published by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, we demand that the COP26 delivers on Loss and Damage finance by taking the following actions:
- Decide at COP26 to provide sufficient and needs-based Loss and Damage finance, in addition to the USD 100b per year committed for mitigation and adaptation, on the basis of equity, historical responsibility and global solidarity, applying the polluter pays principle. Loss and Damage finance to be also included in the post-2025 climate finance target.
- Establish a process to identify the scale of funding needed to address Loss and Damage as well as suitable mechanisms to deliver the finance to developing countries. The outcome must be presented at COP27 to start delivering Loss and Damage finance.
- Support developing countries in enabling national level systems to distribute Loss and Damage finance to ensure country ownership, gender responsiveness and self-determination over how finance is used, and so it reaches the populations that are most vulnerable and in need. This could be facilitated by the fully operationalised Santiago Network for Loss and Damage.
For more information go here: Briefing papers series on Loss & Damage Finance: https://us.boell.org/en/unpacking-finance-loss-and-damage
Watch this powerful 5 minute video explainer on Loss and Damage – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahiVM4FzMyc
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