The COP27 conference ended today with a breakthrough agreement to provide loss and damage funding for vulnerable countries that are most affected by climate disasters. Governments took the historic decision of establishing new funding arrangements, as well as a dedicated fund, to assist developing countries in responding to loss and damage.

Creating a specific fund for loss and damage was one of the issues added to the official COP27 agenda for the first time at a COP.

“The work that we’ve managed to do here in the past two weeks, and the results we have together achieved, are a testament to our collective will, as a community of nations, to voice a clear message that rings loudly today, here in this room and around the world: that multilateral diplomacy still works…. despite the difficulties and challenges of our times, the divergence of views, level of ambition or apprehension, we remain committed to the fight against climate change…. we rose to the occasion, upheld our responsibilities and undertook the important decisive political decisions that millions around the world expect from us,” Sameh Shoukry, COP27 President, said:

The COP27 conference resulted in countries delivering a package of decisions that reaffirmed their commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The decisions also included countries taking action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impact, as well as boosting the support of finance, technology, and capacity building needed by developing countries.

“This outcome moves us forward. We have determined a way forward on a decades-long conversation on funding for loss and damage – deliberating over how we address the impacts on communities whose lives and livelihoods have been ruined by the very worst impacts of climate change,” said Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary.

Governments also agreed to establish a transitional committee to make recommendations on how to operationalize both the new funding arrangements and the fund at COP28 next year. The first meeting of the transitional committee is expected to take place before the end of March 2023.