Canadian officials say they believe the COP28 summit could see a breakthrough in efforts to set up a fund to help countries suffering from the impacts of climate change.
During a background briefing with reporters, senior officials from the federal government outlined Ottawa’s priorities going into the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, which begins Thursday.
One official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed Canada anticipates the launch of a loss and damage fund.
“What we do anticipate at this COP will be the announcement of a new fund around this, and that countries will be in a position to voluntarily provide funding,” the senior official said.
The official said the idea behind the fund is to help countries and communities vulnerable to climate change cope with its effects.
A committee under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been negotiating the terms of that fund.
According to drafts posted on the UNFCCC’s website, the proposed fund would address both economic and non-economic impacts, including extreme weather.
The fund could cover a broad range of climate-related expenses, including humanitarian assistance, displacement due to rising sea levels, relocation, migration, climate information and data, and climate-resilient reconstruction and recovery.
The UNFCCC proposes that the fund would be governed by a board with representatives from the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and small island states.
COP28 could see loss and damage financial pledges
It’s not clear whether the fund will be called a “loss and damage” fund; negotiations are underway on the fund’s name.
“Member states have come together and I believe a conclusion to that negotiation is in sight. The deal seems to be holding,” the federal government official said.
The official added that the international community could begin capitalizing the new fund at COP28 with pledges from countries.
“More work to do, but we are on the cusp of achieving a very important step in the process at this COP,” the official said.
Featured VideoCanada’s environment and climate change minister, Steven Guilbeault, speaks to reporters on his priorities heading into the United Nations climate change summit.
Setting new international climate financing goals
COP climate summits are United Nations conferences hosted annually by different countries. They are global decision-making forums set up to implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted in the early 1990s, and subsequent climate agreements.
A loss and damage fund would not be the first financial tool established by a COP conference. In 2009, the world’s wealthiest nations committed at the COP15 conference in Copenhagen, Denmark to providing $100 billion US annually in climate financing.
That agreement was based on the recognition that the developed world is mainly responsible for producing climate-changing emissions that now disproportionately affect poorer countries.
The European Union and the 23 countries at COP15 committed to delivering on the money commitment by 2020. The $100 billion US target was formalized at a subsequent summit, and the deadline was extended to 2025. But countries have been held to the initial 2020 commitment.
The latest figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicate the total climate finance provided and mobilized by developed countries amounted to $89.6 billion US.
“Based on preliminary and as yet unverified data, the goal looks likely to have already been met as of 2022,” the OECD report states.
It will take another year or two to determine whether the target has been met.
In anticipation of meeting that goal, the senior government official described one of the other “big pieces” Canada will advance at the Dubai COP negotiations.
“We will be setting new financing goals because we know the needs are quite great globally,” they said.
The OECD estimates that by 2025, developing countries will need around $1 trillion annually for climate investments and financing. That’s expected to increase to roughly $2.4 trillion annually between 2026 and 2030.
The OECD report said countries must harness public, private, domestic and international finance to close that gap.
The senior government official said negotiations in Dubai likely won’t establish new specific targets. Still, discussions will focus on a “work plan and the way forward” and Canada is not going into discussions “prematurely” with a target.
Developing a target, the official said, will be the subject of discussions and negotiations over the next year.
In addition to advancing climate finance, Ottawa’s goals going into COP 28 include tripling renewable energy uptake, ensuring global emissions peak in 2025 and limiting warming to the critical threshold of 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels this century.