COP28 kicks off with climate disaster fund victory

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates

The UN climate summit clinched an early victory Thursday, with delegates adopting a new fund to help poor nations cope with costly climate disasters.

The opening ceremony of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP28, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

COP28 President Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber said the decision sent a "positive signal of momentum to the world and to our work here in Dubai".

In establishing the fund on the first day of the two-week COP28 conference, delegates opened the door for governments to announce contributions. 

And several did, kicking off a series of small pledges that countries hoped would build throughout the conference to a substantial sum, including $US100 million from the COP28 host United Arab Emirates, at least $US51 million from Britain, $US17.5 million from the United States, and $US10 million from Japan.

Later, the European Union pledged $US245.39 million, which included $US100 million pledged by Germany. 

The early breakthrough on the damage fund, which poorer nations had demanded for years, could help grease the wheels for other compromises to be made during the two-week summit. 

Alden Meyer of the thinktank E3G said the approval for the "loss and damage" fund, as it's been called informally over the last two years, meant "not having either side play games and using L&D as a bargaining chip tied to other issues." 

Another task for the summit will be the global stocktake, an assessment of countries' progress in meeting the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below two degrees Celsius.

The fund's adoption "allows us now to focus on the global stocktake and the phase out of fossil fuels and build-up of renewable energy," said Jennifer Morgan, Germany's special climate envoy.

But some groups were cautious about celebrating the fund's early adoption, noting there were still unresolved issues including how the fund would be financed in the future. 

"The absence of a defined replenishment cycle raises serious questions about the fund's long-term sustainability," said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International. 

Adnan Amin, CEO of the COP28 summit, told Reuters this month the aim was to secure several hundred million US dollars for the climate disaster fund during the event. 

Pope Francis, who was forced to cancel his trip to COP28 due to illness, sent a message on social media platform X: "May participants in #COP28 be strategists who focus on the common good and the future of their children, rather than the vested interests of certain countries or businesses. May they demonstrate the nobility of politics and not its shame."