COP25: Developed countries continue to block loss and damage fund

Madrid, 06 December 2019 – As the UN climate conference (COP25) rolls into week two, progress on finance for the ‘loss and damage’ caused by climate change continues to be blocked by developed countries.
 
Countries, including the US, Australia, Japan and Canada, that got rich from extracting and burning the fossil fuels that caused the climate crisis, are preventing progress on support for the vulnerable nations and island states already being devasted by rising global temperatures.
 
A resolution by the European Parliament ahead of COP25, calls on the EU Commission and member states to “provide climate finance for loss and damage”. But this is not yet being reflected by EU negotiators.
 
Harjeet Singh, global lead on climate change for ActionAid, who has been following the loss and damage negotiations for a decade, says: 
 
“As ministers arrive for week two of the climate talks, there has been frustratingly little progress on the key issue of finance for survivors of climate disasters. Developing countries have put specific proposals on the table, but they are stuck in a logjam.   
 
“The EU must break the deadlock. We hope member states will follow the European Parliament’s lead in recognising the devastation climate change is already causing in the Global South. What we describe as ‘loss and damage’ during climate negotiations, is about surviving and responding to the climate emergency. Rich countries cannot continue to ignore the needs of the most vulnerable.”
 
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ActionAid spokespeople at COP25:

Harjeet Singh is ActionAid's global lead on climate change. He specialises in the impacts of climate change on the Global South, including migration and urgent need for climate finance. Harjeet is a member of the UN technical expert group on risk management. He is on the board of the Climate Action Network (CAN) International and also coordinates the working group on adaptation and loss & damage. Harjeet will be analysing outcomes from the climate talks in Madrid. He speaks English and Hindi. Follow him on Twitter @harjeet11.
 
Teresa Anderson is ActionAid’s climate policy coordinator. She leads ActionAid’s climate policy work on land, food and agriculture. She coordinates the Climate Action Network (CAN) working group on agriculture. She will be analysing outcomes from the agriculture negotiations at COP25. Follow her on Twitter @1TeresaAnderson.
 
Brandon Wu is ActionAid USA’s director of policy and campaigns. He specialises in climate finance for developing countries, fairness and equity in the global climate regime, and energy democracy in the Global South. Brandon recently completed a two-year term on the governing board of the Green Climate Fund. Follow him on Twitter @brandoncwu.
 
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ActionAid’s spokespeople are available for comment, interviews and briefings from the climate negotiations in Madrid. For more information visit www.actionaid.org/climatejusticenow
 
Media contact: Jenna Pudelek, jenna.pudelek@actionaid.org, +4477595642990.