Simon Stiell: Loss and Damage Funding Is a Lifeline for Billions of People

Remarks by UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell at the Opening of the 2nd Glasgow Dialogue on Loss and Damage

Friends, Colleagues,

This year will be decisive for climate action.

The global stocktake at COP28 will assess our implementation of the commitments we have made since the adoption of the Paris Agreement and give us a view of how to course correct to meet them.

We will define the global goal on adaptation.

We will set up the loss and damage fund and funding arrangements.

And more.

We must succeed in these tasks, because the climate is not waiting for us. We are not on track with emissions to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Warming is already more than 1.1 degrees Celsius and emissions continue to rise.

No matter what we do, we will have to contend with a warmer planet; we are already facing serious impacts.

Floods are washing away entire villages, wildfires are devastating communities, and droughts are fueling famines in some of the world’s most vulnerable nations.

According to the IPCC, about 3-and-a-half billion people live in contexts that are highly vulnerable to climate change.

Your discussions this week must take all these factors into account.

The response to the global stocktake must be accelerated, ambitious action.

And our ambition over the coming months will determine the success of COP28 and our fight to stabilize the climate.

Colleagues,

Adaptation to build resilience, reduce climate risk and minimize loss is essential, since the effects of climate change are already here and will multiply.

But adaptation will come too late for people and countries already suffering severe losses and damages.

We know that existing funding arrangements fall far short of responding to current and future needs.

They are not enough to cover existing funding gaps for mitigation and adaption, let alone address loss and damage.

The agreement in Sharm El Sheikh to set up new funding arrangements and a fund for loss & damage was only the first step.

We urgently need new, additional financial resources that are predictable and adequate to help vulnerable developing countries in particular respond to loss and damage.

I urge you to think creatively and look at innovative ways to help climate finance make a real difference to the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.

We are talking about funding, yes. But these arrangements can translate into real, life-saving change for billions of people. The loss and damage funding arrangements are a lifeline for vulnerable people and places.

The Transitional Committee is making steady progress towards fulfilling their mandate, and it has already passed the half-way mark.

Your dialogue will offer crucial inputs to the Transitional Committee.

Your ideas will help the Transitional Committee to present a robust set of recommendations to COP28, so we can move forward with operationalizing a dedicated loss and damage fund, and funding arrangements.

This dialogue presents a unique opportunity to foster inclusive engagement among all stakeholders.

It is a chance to ensure that our discussions on loss and damage arrangements, as well as maximizing the utilization of existing support, are as inclusive as possible.

This entails actively involving the communities that are most affected, along with the people and organizations striving to provide them with support.

We need all voices to be heard.

I am confident that you will make good use of the next three days so that the 2nd Glasgow Dialogue will continue the momentum that COP27 injected into the loss and damage discussion, drive the agenda forward and leave no one behind.

Thank you.