Cop28 ‘successful from day one’ with win on loss and damage fund, IMF chief says

Live updates: Follow the latest news on Cop28

Momentum to fight the climate crisis must continue after the UAE’s Cop28 scored an early win when nations agreed to put into operation the loss and damage fund and triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director has said.

The landmark loss and damage fund, which came into operation after a 30-year wait, and the renewables agreement will help the world to hasten decarbonisation efforts and boost financial commitments to battle climate change, Kristalina Georgieva told media on Sunday.

Climate-related financial pledges started to pour in during the early days of the Cop28 summit in Dubai, including the UAE’s $30 billion fund and the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust that has received pledges for more than $40 billion to accelerate the energy transition.

Cop28 “is very successful from Day 1, it has turned the hopes of everybody here up. Why? Because of the actions that have already been taken”, she said.

“I do hope this will continue in the spirit of ‘yes we can fight, successfully, the climate crisis and turn it into an opportunity to transform our economies to low-carbon and climate resilient development’.”

Countries on Thursday agreed to the historic deal of putting into operation the loss and damage fund, which is aimed at helping vulnerable countries to cope with the increasingly expensive and damaging effect of climate disasters.

Loss and damage refers to climate effects that are already happening or are inevitable, such as rising sea levels that threaten to submerge small island nations.

Countries agreed on the principle of a loss and damage fund at Cop27 in Egypt last year, but left several questions open, such as who would pay and who would oversee the payments.

The deal in Dubai means the fund can now come into operation. With some of those questions answered, governments of rich countries have been told to “take the lead” in funding, and the World Bank is envisaged as an initial host.

However, the IMF chief said challenges remained, including putting in place policies to speed up decarbonisation, eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and expand the use of carbon pricing.

“The biggest challenge is to address the policy obstacles for faster decarbonisation,” Ms Georgieva said.