SMALL island developing states (SIDS) across Caricom have welcomed the decision to establish a loss and damage response fund recently agreed at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) held in Egypt.

Labelled a breakthrough decision, the agreement to establish a loss and damage fund stems from existing international negotiations and follows years of deliberations. It also backs the call for financial support to help developing countries respond to post-climate-related impacts, including livelihood loss, with loss and damage added to the COP agenda for the first time.

“We have literally exhausted all of our efforts … to bring home the climate action commitments our vulnerable people desperately need,” said Molwyn Joseph, government minister in Antigua and Barbuda and chair of the Alliance of Small Island Developing States (AOSIS), in a statement following the agreement at the conference.

“AOSIS and our fellow developing countries have toiled for the past thirty years to be heard on this issue. AOSIS has worked tirelessly this year to build consensus, devise a clear loss and damage response fund proposal, and ensure the commitment of the international community to come to COP27 and negotiate on this issue in good faith,” he added.

AOSIS is a regional organsisation that has represented the interests of some 39 SIDS and low-lying coastal developing states for more than two decades in climate negotiations and sustainable development processes.

“Our ministers and negotiators have endured sleepless nights and endless days in an intense series of negotiations, determined to secure the establishment of a loss and damage response fund, keep ‘1.5’ alive, and advance ambition on critical mitigation and adaptation plans,” Joseph stated.

In a Panos Caribbean news release, stakeholders noted that even as they celebrate the win, they are mindful of the work ahead to operationalise the fund.

According to Dr Colin Young, executive director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, while the hard-fought-for loss and damage decision is certainly welcomed, it is now time to ensure that the operation of the fund benefits SIDS and other developing countries.

“The details will need to be worked out, the criteria established, and the sources identified. The design of the fund must be fit for purpose and not repeat the mistakes of other funds that are very difficult to access and take years,” he stated.

UnaMay Gordon, former principal director for the Climate Change Division of Jamaica, and who has herself been on the frontline at many global climate negotiations, agreed. “This was a great step forward, but it is the first step. Eyes will now focus on construction of the transitional committee and the beginning of their deliberations. I do hope the fight for loss and damage gets easier from here on.”

AOSIS, which has long championed financial support for loss and damage in the developing world in supporting calls for the design and operationalisation of the fund, said it should include important concepts such as “climate justice” when taking action to address climate change as outlined in the Paris Agreement; and underscoring the need for the operating entity that is built to provide predictable support for ex-post response to loss and damage.

Aside from that, the entity further maintained that the programming of support should take a “country-owned, country-driven, gender-responsive approach” and “with operational modalities that realise enhanced direct access, especially through existing regional and national entities”.