EU promises 'substantial' loss and damage finance

Market: Emissions
13/11/23

The EU's climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra today said that the 27 member states are to announce a "substantial" financial contribution to the loss and damage fund at the UN Cop 28 climate talks in Dubai.

Hoekstra said he was ready "to announce substantial financial contribution by the EU and its member states to the loss and damage fund at Cop 28 in the context of an ambitious outcome... across mitigation, adaptation".

Loss and damage refers to the unavoidable, irreversible effects of climate change. Hoekstra has repeatedly tied loss and damage finance discussions to progress on mitigation — cutting emissions.

Hoekstra in Brussels today discussed preparations for Cop 28 with president-designate Sultan al-Jaber, who is also chief executive of Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc.

Both al-Jaber and Hoekstra reiterated their support for the outcome and recommendations for a loss and damage fund released by the transitional committee at the start of this month, stressing the importance of "early pledges". There was no mention of an amount of money for the fund in the committee's text, which only urged voluntary contributions..

The two noted that the climate talks must "accelerate practical action on mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage and climate finance and build a fully inclusive Cop 28 that leaves no one behind".

The joint statement mentioned that the commission is also planning to announce a financial contribution supporting the Cop 28's renewable energy and energy efficiency goals, without providing further details.

The Cop 28 presidency has set ambitious goals for the summit starting later this month, including doubling energy efficiency and tripling installed renewable energy capacity by 2030. The commission and EU ministers have also called for similar goals.

The joint statement did not mention a phase-out of fossil fuels. In September, commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that unabated fossil fuels need to be phased out "well before 2050".

But the bloc's environment ministers did not agree on a specific deadline when setting the commission's negotiating mandate for the summit. They underlined that the "shift towards a climate neutral economy in line with 1.5ºC — the Paris agreement most ambitious temperature goal — will require the global phase out of unabated fossil fuels".

By Dafydd ab Iago

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