At the Glasgow Dialogue, the Loss and Damage finance gaps have been increasingly recognized across both developing and developed country Parties. However, the positions and solutions offered by developed country Parties do not speak to the urgency and reality of the most vulnerable people who are bearing the brunt of the climate emergency.
ECO heard how the humanitarian system is increasingly overwhelmed by climatic events and how issues of non-economic losses and slow onset events are not being addressed. We heard how the current financial architecture does not address’ Loss and Damage; this gap needs to be bridged. We heard a call for an IPCC special report on Loss and Damage. ECO itself urges the IPCC to produce a Loss and Damage finance gap report just as we do for mitigation and adaptation. We heard that the burden of coping with these disasters was falling on families on the frontline. As we heard on Saturday and all throughout the week, the science is unambiguous or as it was stated by one grouping of Parties: un-am-bi-gu-ous. We heard the IPCC scientist who highlighted Africa as one of the most vulnerable regions to loss and damage.
All of this underscores one clear message: we must now focus on addressing Loss and Damage. And this means Parties must urgently establish the Loss and Damage Finance Facility at the African COP27.
The next Glasgow Dialogue can then focus on further defining governing arrangements, delivery structures and processes for needs-based resource mobilization. Empty words will not help people recover from impacts and rebuild their lives and livelihoods. It is time to talk about how to do this – now.
Developing countries must now formally request an agenda item for the COP, and the incoming Presidency must respond positively to this request.
As we grapple with how to address the mounting loss and damage crisis, ECO has come up with a concrete proposal which we would like to discuss with Parties and observers alike. We invite you to join us today from 16:45-18:15 in Room Berlin.