• by Farai Shawn Matiashe (belÉm, brazil)
• Thursday, November 13, 2025
• Inter Press Service
• Our countries did not light this fire—but we are burning in its heat. And the smoke does not stop at our borders. —Evans Njewa, Least Developed Countries Group chair, when talking about the importance of the Loss and Damage Fund for LDCs

BELÉM, Brazil, November 13 (IPS) - Least Developed Countries have hailed the debut call for proposals for the Loss and Damage Fund, which was launched on 11 November at the United Nations climate summit known as COP30 in Belem, Brazil.

Climate-hit countries have been invited to prepare their proposals and submit them, with approval expected to be in July next year.

The fund, initially established at COP27 in Dubai and operationalized at COP28 in Dubai, holds approximately USD 397 million in total. In 2024, there were pledges totalling more than USD 700m.

In the last board meeting of the fund, the minutes emphasized the urgency of operationalizing it and underscored the crucial role of the initial USD 250 million allocation in supporting the most climate-vulnerable nations.  It also called for global solidarity to sustain and scale the Fund. Eligible countries will be able to receive between USD 5m and USD 20m per project.

Evans Njewa, Least Developed Countries (LCD) Group chair, says parties should start preparing proposals. “This is good news to us as a group of least developed countries,” Njewa, who represents 44 nations spanning Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and the Caribbean with over one billion people, tells IPS. “We have been expecting this to happen.”

But Njewa warned that the fund should be accessible, transparent, useful and grant-based to ensure that countries are not trapped in debt.

“I have talked to the executive director and board members and co-chairs of the fund that there should be no complexities in the process,” he says.

Njewa says the fund is a lifeline for least developed countries, which are highly susceptible to environmental and economic shocks and disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. “Therefore, there must be no talk about risks or rejecting certain projects. Let us manage the crisis that we have: the loss and damage,” he says.

Estimates for economic losses due to climate change in 2025 alone range from USD 128bn to USD 937bn. So, the USD 250m is not enough.

Njewa says the current levels of the resources in the fund have risen to around USD 800m but the package for the readiness is only about USD 250m, falling far short of the needs. “My message to the contributors is we need the scaling up of those resources, USD 800m plus, so that we can reach more countries to address climate action through supporting the impacts associated with loss and damage,” he says.

The Loss and Damage fund is meant for the least developed countries to address both economic issues, such as rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by floods and non-economic losses, like loss of life and cultural heritage.

Dr. Richard Muyungi, chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) and Climate Envoy and Advisor to the President of Tanzania, has also reaffirmed that the USD 250m currently available in the Loss and Damage Fund is not enough. “Therefore, we call on the Fund’s capitalization, and Belém must advance political support for a significant capitalization of the Fund for responding to loss and damage when it initiates its agreed replenishment cycle in 2027,” he says.

The least developed countries are least responsible for this crisis, as they contribute just a fraction to global emissions but are the hardest hit by climate change. They suffer the worst impacts from floods to drought and food insecurity. But they are also poor and unable to respond to climate disasters.

This year’s climate summit, which kicked off on November 10, is happening in Belem, a humid port city on the edge of the Amazon forest. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva dubbed it the “COP of Truth.” The South American country wants this summit to deliver real solutions.

It is also 10 years after the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius.

But the world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement goals, as the current climate action is not enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme Emission Gap report, the Paris Agreement has contributed to the decline of the global warming projections from 4 degrees Celsius at the time of its adoption to just below 3 degrees today.

Njewa says communities in least developed countries are being displaced, crops are failing, and lives are being lost. He says only funding will enable communities on the frontlines to defend themselves against climate impacts. “Our countries did not light this fire – but we are burning in its heat. And the smoke does not stop at our borders,”  Njewa says.

He says even with the greatest efforts to mitigate climate change and even with the best defenses against climate impacts, there are limits, and when those limits are breached, loss and damage follow.

“Climate justice demands that those responsible for the crisis act first and fastest and support those already living with its consequences,” he says. “Failing to act on climate change is not just immoral, it is unlawful.”

ActionAid United States of America’s director of policy and campaigns, Brandon Wu, who has been following the fund since its inception, welcomed its operationalization.

“The call for proposals launched today is a key step towards getting money to directly impacted communities,” Wu says. “However, there’s still a long way to go. Only USD 250m is available—a drop in the bucket compared to the trillions needed.”

Wu says it is concerning that there is no mechanism to distribute the funds immediately after a disaster. “For the fund to truly deliver, it must be more responsive to communities and immediate needs, and rich countries must urgently increase their contributions,” he says.

This feature is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.

IPS UN Bureau Report

© Inter Press Service (20251113121618) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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