London, 8 August: A new paper published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation warns that the UN’s new loss-and-damage fund, set up by the UN climate summit last year to assist communities hit by extreme weather disasters, is at risk of being mismanaged and turning into a massive boondoggle instead.
Dr Ralph Alexander, the paper’s author, warns that climate funding over the past 15–20 years has habitually failed communities who needed it most. And there has been a shocking lack of transparency and accountability in distribution of UN climate funding.
This short paper addresses the questions of where the money from the proposed disaster loss-and-damage fund will go; on what basis; who will decide and who should be paid.
Dr Ralph Alexander said:
“It is unlikely that the loss-and-damage fund will ever reach its intended goal of effective disaster funding. There will be intense infighting and delays in getting funding to those in the most need. Such problems could be avoided through a trigger-based funding mechanism for delivering funds directly to affected communities – which could be implemented most effectively through the smallest, most agile agencies with direct experience in disaster funding.”
