Loss and Damage Research Observatory

Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD): A Year of Inaction When the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) was announced at COP28, hopes soared for meaningful support to vulnerable nations. But as we approach COP29, the reality is stark and disappointing: over $700 million pledged to the fund remains unused while climate disasters wreak havoc on millions. Read the blog by Ritu Bharadwaj, "Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage: Failed to Deliver So Far," to understand why urgent action is needed. https://lnkd.in/gYtKdC44 The impact is real: o  West & Central Africa: Floods affected 2.1M people, causing 513 deaths. o  Southern Africa: Droughts triggered food insecurity, cholera outbreaks, and national disasters in Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. o  South Asia: Heatwaves in India claimed 700+ lives and caused 40,000+ heatstroke cases. o  Brazil: Historic floods displaced 580,000 people and impacted over 2M. Yet, despite these crises, not a single dollar from the FRLD has reached those in need. Why the delay? o  The FRLD Board remains focused on finding a "perfect" delivery model. But perfection doesn’t exist. What we need is action now: o  Experiment with multiple, transparent funding models. o  Direct funds to communities, empowering them to decide what works. o  Avoid intermediaries that slow down the process. Unmet needs and false progress: o  Minimal pledges this year—Sweden ($19M) and Australia ($50M)—leave the fund far short of the estimated $1.3 trillion needed for loss and damage. o  Structural setups like the Board and Executive Director create an illusion of progress, while critical issues—like fund transfer modalities and prioritization—remain unresolved. Not fit for purpose: Current financing models fail to o  Balance immediate relief and long-term resilience. o  Address slow-onset events like sea-level rise and desertification. o  Provide insurance solutions that work for vulnerable communities. Communities on the climate frontlines deserve better than bureaucracy and broken promises. They need meaningful action—and they need it now. Ritu Bharadwaj, Richard Sherman, Jean-Christophe Donnellier, Mohamed Nasr, David Kaluba, Abdulla B., Mohammad Ayoub, Mark Dennis Joven, Antonella Baldino, Sebastian Lesch, Ana Paula Rodrigues, Jan Dusík, Jens Fugl, Jose Delgado, Laurence Ahoussou, HIROKI MATSUI, Georg Børsting, Gerard Howe, Rebecca Lawlor, Nona Budoyan, Liliam Chagas, Elena Pereira, H. Elizabeth Thompson Liz Thompson, Daniel Lund, Peter Abraham Jr., Adao Soares Barbosa, Ibila DJIBRIL #ClimateAction #ClimateJustice #LossAndDamage #COP29Baku

Redefining Credit Ratings to Unlock Climate Resilience Finance We have just published a briefing that highlights critical reforms needed in global credit rating systems. These reforms are essential to ensure Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) can access the finance required for climate resilience and sustainable development. https://lnkd.in/esztpW6N Key Recommendations: 1.     Credit ratings should reflect not only risks but also the economic potential of investing in climate resilience and sustainable development. 2.     Establish a new entity to assess resilience investments and development opportunities specifically for climate-vulnerable nations. 3.     Adjust methodologies to ensure countries can adopt debt relief measures without fear of punitive downgrades. 4.     Provide subsidised and tiered pricing, along with simplified processes, to help SIDS and LDCs access and maintain credit ratings. Reforming credit rating systems will be a crucial agenda item for FFD4 as we push to rebuild the international financial architecture. These changes are urgently needed to enable vulnerable countries to secure investments that can drive climate resilience and sustainable development. Dive into the detailed analysis and recommendations in our working paper here: https://lnkd.in/esDuP_52 Read article by Reuters highlighting the finding of the paper: https://lnkd.in/eNrmQZ8k Shari Spiegel, Oliver Schwank, Jackie Hoi Wai Cheng, Tumasie Blair, Simon Jessop, Karin Strohecker, karthikeyan nagarajan, Penelope Hawkins, Tom Mitchell, Loss and Damage Research Observatory, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

Loss and damage resulting from #climatechange is not an abstract concept: It means the loss of lives, homes, jobs, and ecosystems. There is an urgent need to acknowledge and address the impacts of the climate crisis. via UNDP Climate

Vulnerability-informed approach to financing for sustainable development I had the privilege to join an engaging discussion at the Second Preparatory Committee Session for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), alongside a distinguished group of participants. This conversation is especially crucial for SIDS and other vulnerable countries, who, despite their significant exposure to climate shocks and persistent structural vulnerabilities, receive limited ODA and face some of the highest debt burdens globally. - Moving beyond income thresholds: The need to move beyond income thresholds like Gross National Income per capita when assessing countries' needs for concessional finance. This discussion is vital for advancing the Financing for Development (FFD4) agenda, as it emphasises the need for a more nuanced approach to allocating international resources that recognises the structural vulnerabilities faced by many countries, particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). - Using the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI): The panel explored how a vulnerability-informed lens, such as the MVI, can reshape how international finance is allocated, ensuring that countries with the most acute needs receive the support necessary for sustainable development. - Addressing financing gaps in resilience, adaptation, and SDGs: This approach is crucial for addressing financing gaps in resilience, adaptation, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It directs resources towards building climate resilience, supporting adaptation measures, and promoting long-term sustainable development in vulnerable regions. This is a pivotal moment for the FFD4 agenda as we work toward a new global agreement on financing that recognises vulnerability as a key determinant of need. Such a shift ensures that development finance is more equitable and effective, addressing the unique challenges faced by vulnerable nations, particularly in their efforts to enhance climate resilience, adapt to environmental changes, and progress towards the SDGs. The event brought together global leaders, experts, and advocates to address a pressing gap in development finance: I had the privledge of joining the discussion with Rabab Fatima (Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS), Nuno Sampaio (Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Portugal), Kilisitina Tuaimeiapi (CEO, Ministry of Finance, Tonga), Sai Navoti (Chief, SIDS Unit, DESA), Olivier Cattaneo (Senior Policy Analyst, OECD), Mathieu Verougstraete (Head of Resilient Infrastructure and Finance for Resilience, UNDRR), and Emily Wilkinson (Director, RESI).

This week, I had the privilege of attending the Eighth Session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Financing for Development in Geneva, organised by UNCTAD. The session focused on the critical topic: "Addressing the cost of development finance to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)." Our discussions focussed on social protection, debt management, credit rating systems, and food security, exploring their intersections and impacts on financing for sustainable development. These themes are important, especially as rising development finance costs, climate shocks, and global crises exacerbate challenges for developing countries. Key takeaways and outcomes from the session include: - Recognition of the need for a more equitable and efficient international financial architecture to address systemic barriers. - Emphasis on innovative tools and financial instruments such as debt-for-climate swaps and climate-resilient debt clauses to support SDGs. - Calls for greater transparency in credit rating systems, integrating development and climate risk indicators into assessments. - Strengthened roles for public development banks and multilateral development banks in providing affordable, sustainable financing options. Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Financing for Development, eighth session | UNCTAD The road ahead demands commitment and action in the lead up to FFD4 outcome - ensuring that the proposed reform of the global financial architecture gets the much needed climate, development, nature and humanitarian finance to SIDS and LDCs. Through the SIDS Debt Sustainability Support Service we are trying to tackle these issues holistically, but we now need to expand this to LDCs and other vulnerable developing countries. https://lnkd.in/eiUQx2Ax We will be discussing this more at the official side event of FFD4 Second Prep Comm meeting in New York on 4 December. You can find out more about the event here: https://lnkd.in/e6VTxftJ Tumasie Blair, Aubrey Webson, Ali Naseer Mohamed, Ambassador Mohamed Ali Nur, Shiruzima Sameer Dr. Simona Marinescu, Jeffrey Sachs, Ilana Seid, Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Rabab Fatima, UN-OHRLLS, Sainivalati Navoti, Tishka Francis, UN DESA, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rebecca Chesman Fabrizi, Gerard Howe, Olivia Goldin, Dr Sinead Walsh, Orla Kilcullen, Loss and Damage Research Observatory, Tom Mitchell, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Allison Robertshaw

🎙️Ritu Bharadwaj of International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) speaking today at the event: “Communities First: Learning lessons from Scotland’s approaches to funding #LossAndDamage”, held by The Scottish Government 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 with partners Oxfam, GiveDirectly, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and C40 Cities at #COP29, said: ❝ We really want the Executive Director of the Fund for Responding to #LossAndDamage (Ibrahima Cheikh DIONG) to use the US$ 700 million pledged to the Fund 💰 to rapidly do tests like the The Scottish Government has done. ⚡️ We don't want that cash sitting for another year 😢, we want them to experiment and define the rules 📜 as they are doing it. ❞

ALL ACT (Alliance for Locally Led Transformative Action on Loss and Damage) initiative by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) conducted a virtual training on Comprehensive Climate Impact Quantification (C-CIQ) toolkit on November 7, 2024. Participants including academia, researchers, and practitioners working on climate and loss & damage research, policy, and action from the Global South countries representing  Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean regions attended the training. The recording of the training is now available on Loss and Damage Research Observatory website and can be accessed here https://lnkd.in/gkJqp9gW. The C-CIQ Toolkit, published by IIED, provide a comprehensive step-by-step guide to quantifying and assessing economic and non-economic L&D, and co-developing policy and programme responses to manage climate risks. (Access English https://lnkd.in/dKAkMAft and French https://lnkd.in/gBcvzvuY versions of the toolkit). The training focused on how this toolkit can be used in different L&D contexts, from the micro level at the village level to the sub-national or national level, to produce evidence-based research to support action and policy advocacy on L&D issues. The C-CIQ toolkit, with its sequential 5-step process, helps to quantify the L&D that communities face from the adverse impacts of slow and rapid onset extreme climate events. It focuses on vulnerable communities by putting them at the centre of the initial co-identification of L&Ds and underlying factors using Inclusive and Participatory Community Assessment (IPCA), and finally, using the same IPCA tools, it helps to develop practical solutions to address L&Ds that can help communities to comprehensively manage climate risks. With practical examples, the toolkit guides the unpacking of the factors that influence community vulnerability, the 3Ps, including predisposing, precipitating and protective factors. Using case studies, it also guides the categorisation of L&D along four dimensions, namely tangibility, intrinsic-functional, temporality and spatiality. Quantifying economic and non-economic L&D using an index-based valuation approach and multi-criteria decision analysis explains step-by-step how to analyse and quantify L&D across tangible and intangible, intrinsic and functional dimensions of climate impacts and their interactions at different spatial and temporal scales. The application of this C-CIQ approach can be understood from this report "Women paying the cost of the climate crisis with their wombs: quantifying loss and damage faced by women battling drought, debt and migration" (https://lnkd.in/eApEzwmm), which is the result of field research carried out in the Beed district of Maharashtra in India. Find out more and get connected at https://lnkd.in/gph6-jTB

On the opening day of #COP29 in Baku, a reminder that the #climatecrisis is not simply a technical issue to be solved by scientists, engineers and technocrats. It is a #humanrights crisis. And it magnifies existing socioeconomic inequalities such that impacts fall disproportionately on those already vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Earlier this year a research paper from brilliant researchers at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) brought this message home. Researchers interviewed “jodis” - husband-and-wife teams working in India’s sugar industry. ⏱️They work 12 to 16 hours a day. 🧑🌾👩🌾 Men cut sugar cane, women tie and stack the bundles. 📑They are informally employed with no contract or job security. 💰They are subject to wage deductions if they miss work or take leave. ☀️🌩️ 91% are exposed to harsh climatic conditions whilst working: sun, heat, rain and cold. 💰Wages are low. 250 INR per tonne of cane. Jodis can harvest and load ~2 tonnes / day - but these are 12-16 hr days. So they end up earning about half the state agricultural wage rate. Many of the workers could be considered #climatemigrants. The most common reason for migrating was drought in their home districts. These are getting worse due to #climatechange. But the most shocking finding of the paper is captured in its title: #womenworkers “are paying the cost of the climate crisis with their wombs”. 56% of the migrant women interviewed had had hysterectomies. They are undergoing these operations to avoid menstrual cramps that are made debilitatingly painful by long hours of hard physical work in hot temperatures with little or no opportunity for breaks or time-off. Some of the women are undergoing these operations in their 20s. This is happening is a supposedly middle income country and in the supply chains of a everyday staple commodity. The escalating #climatecrisis is a #humanrights crisis for #workers. We’re all impacted by rising temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns and protentially climate disasters. But impacts fall more heavily on some more than others. These informal women workers, doing essential but hidden work within agricultural #supplychains, are already paying an irreversible, life changing price. The transition won’t be a just one unless the lived experiences of workers like the Jodis of Maharasthra are front and centre at Baku. #justtransition #bizhumanrights #genderjustice #climatejustice #workersrights

“The needs for dealing with loss and damage run into trillions, but the fund is in millions,” Ritu Bharadwaj observes. “There’s a lot of zeros missing there.” As leaders meet for climate talks in Azerbaijan, there are growing calls for more money to help poorer countries deal with the effects of climate change. https://lnkd.in/e9rtSCr9

I will be moderating this International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Official side event on “Delivering Loss and Damage Financing to the Most Vulnerable: Local Insights from the Global South” at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC UN) next week in COP29 Azerbaijan. Our event will feature the latest research and insights from two IDRC funded collaborative local action research projects loss and damage (L&D) implemented by our partners International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), IFSD - Institute for Study and Development Worldwide, and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). We will discuss how loss and damage financing can be more effective and inclusive; help create a platform for members and advocates of vulnerable countries to articulate their concerns and voice on L&D; inform COP29 delegates to advance L&D related negotiations with greater sense of urgency and conceptual clarity; and how the emerging climate finance mechanism, i.e. the New Collective Quantified Goal (#NCQG) should consider L&D issues to be agreed before 2025. The event will be held in the Canada Pavilion on 14th November from 5.15-6.15 pm. Pls. join us for this important and timely conversation. Erin Tansey Hemant Ojha Swarnim Waglé Maheshwar Dhakal Ritu Bharadwaj Nusrat Naushin Louise Guénette Georgina Cundill Kemp Paul Okiira Okwi Loss and Damage Youth Coalition Loss and Damage Research Observatory Loss and Damage Collaboration