The board of the UN’s Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) has decided to consider its first package of projects for support at its next meeting in December, confounding expectations that it may support the first set of four proposals this week.
The fund is facing a major dilemma over how to select projects to receive its limited resources after its first request for proposals saw nearly 180 submissions seeking nearly $2.8 billion. It currently has only $250 million available to distribute, although the board agreed Friday to release $100 million more due to high demand.
Much of the board’s three-day meeting in Manila was held behind closed doors, making it difficult for civil society experts to know what was going on. Draft resolutions were presented on a screen and finalized at the end of the meeting before being adopted on Friday.
During the closing session, government board members and observers alike expressed frustration at the wide gap between the growing needs of communities struggling to cope with worsening climate change disasters and the small amount being offered to help them recover.
Already have an account? Enter here →
For 15 years, Climate Home News has rigorously reported on the decisions that shape our climate.
Join the community of students who make this work possible.
Join for free and keep reading →
It takes less than a minute.
The board of the UN’s Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) has decided to consider its first package of projects for support at its next meeting in December, confounding expectations that it may support the first set of four proposals this week.
The fund is facing a major dilemma over how to select projects to receive its limited resources after its first request for proposals saw nearly 180 submissions seeking nearly $2.8 billion. It currently has only $250 million available to distribute, although the board agreed Friday to release $100 million more due to high demand.
Much of the board’s three-day meeting in Manila was held behind closed doors, making it difficult for civil society experts to know what was going on. Draft resolutions were presented on a screen and finalized at the end of the meeting before being adopted on Friday.
During the closing session, government board members and observers alike expressed frustration at the wide gap between the growing needs of communities struggling to cope with worsening climate change disasters and the small amount being offered to help them recover.
In the first pledging session at COP28 in 2023, wealthy governments contributed approximately R820 million to this fund, of which only 55% was delivered to its fund.
“All the proposals represent real people,” who sincerely expect to receive resources from the fund, said Milagro Matus of Belize, asking that their wish be strengthened.
Mismatch between needs and contributions
Many other board members, particularly from developing countries, and climate justice advocates expressed disappointment that the fund has little to spend and called for efforts to increase contributions from rich countries.
The fund will consider how to mobilize additional resources in the short term, as well as the long-term replenishment process, at its December meeting.
Richard Sherman from South Africa, who was the chairman of the board and is now a member of the board, had suggested that there should be a high level session to promise the FRLD to be held before the COP31 conference in November but this seems unlikely as it was not included in Friday’s decisions.
Adao Soares Barbosa of Timor-Leste said this week’s board meeting – the ninth – should show the world that more financial contributions are needed as the collective needs to deal with loss and damage are very high.
Iran’s military fuel shock threatens Africa’s clean cooking, IEA says
He called for enough additional funding to approve at least one project in each of the least developed and small island developing countries, which have so far submitted 72 proposals between them. Part of the fund’s resources are meant to be earmarked for those two most vulnerable ethnic groups.
Brandon Wu, director of policy and campaigns for ActionAid USA, said that the board’s decision not to approve the immediate approval of the first four programs presented “is a very clear example that the failure of developed countries to provide FRLD with adequate resources is depressing the fund that was intended to be the main agency responding to climate impacts throughout the Global South”.
More time to consider proposals
Some board members spoke of the awkward situation the fund faces in choosing such a large number of projects, introducing “unhelpful competition” to the process. Isaac Glassie-Ryan of the Cook Islands said he was concerned the approval process included the “vulnerable and vulnerable” and said each project should have “equal treatment”.
The FRLD secretary reviews the project documents and ensures that they are eligible for funding, but it is not clear how the projects will be selected for the board’s approval and in what order. The next meeting was postponed from October to mid-December to allow more time to prepare the first set of proposals for the board to consider.
The level of resources available to FRLD means that only about 15-20 projects are likely to be approved at that meeting, as there is a limit of $20 million per proposal.
Friday’s decision noted the “need for fair and equitable treatment of all grant requests” reviewed by the secretariat and requested that the first batch of projects supported by the FRLD should examine various ways and means of providing its funds.
Social frustration
At the end of the Manila meeting, civil society observers said they were dissatisfied with both the slow pace of ratification and their exclusion from much of the discussion. Harjeet Singh, global organizer of the Fill the Fund campaign and founding director of India’s Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, called the meeting “very disappointing and frustrating”, saying it was ineffective and uninclusive.
A number of board members supported that appeal, saying that this issue must be addressed and a policy agreed upon for the public to participate in board meetings.
As the green economy accelerates, communities must benefit from growing oceans, say activists
Board chairwoman Camila Rodríguez Tavárez said the issue will be looked into. He described the meeting as “successful” but “challenging”, adding that progress had been made and the board was able to reach “limited decisions”.
Singh however lamented that the FRLD “has not been able to give even a single penny to the people who are suffering right now”.
