“We need $400 billion annually. And the fund doesn't even have a billion dollars. Nepal tragedy, the cost of recovery is going to be close to $5 billion. Just a few days ago, the board has now set aside $21.6 million for Nepal as part of the urgent request. That is less than half a percent of what Nepal needs for recovery and rehabilitation.”
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Asked for an update on the UN loss and damage fund agreed four years earlier, Singh gives the scale of the gap between what the fund holds and what climate disasters cost, using a recent disaster in Nepal as the example.
…Nina, is they're using this aid, that's what they call it, to actually advance their trade. Yeah. You know, the reality is, and this, I'm not making it up. If you look at most of the aid departments have moved under trade, so they're not even hiding this fact. It's so blatant. It's so blatant.
…in process. So that's been four years now, right? That we've had an agreement to create this loss and damage fund. Can you tell us a bit about or give us an update on where we are with that fund and how that you know negotiations around loss and damage will be present or absent from COP31 agenda?
…year in Dubai, it was operationalized and pledges were made. And if you look, and since then, several board meetings have happened. The ninth one was in July this year. And we have managed to get pledges of around $822 million. And close to half of the amount has been received in the bank. Now, there are several challenges. I want to remind your listeners the figure that we mentioned earlier. We need $400 billion annually. And the fund doesn't even have a billion dollars. Nepal tragedy, the cost of recovery is going to be close to $5 billion. Just a few days ago, the board has now set aside $21.6 million for Nepal as part of the urgent request. That is less than half a percent of what Nepal needs for recovery and rehabilitation. So look at the scale of gap that exists at this moment. Yes, we have got a fund. It's a victory. It's the right thing to do to have a fund which supports countries and communities to recover and. To rebuild, but it's not enough, and that's why, as Fill the Fund campaign, we are putting a lot of pressure on the fund to work on the scale and the speed. It took several months to even consider…
Yeah, I mean, so four years ago in Shamul Sheikh, I remember writing a story, a stories about the creation of a loss and damage fund. And at COP27, I think by the end of that 10-day summit, about $600, $650 million had been pledged. How is it possible that the fund has only reached 800 million in…
Yeah, so first of all, the biggest joke is the US. And by the time this was agreed, and talking about the Dubai COP and the operationalization was happening, it was clear that the Trump administration is going to take over next year. And then the Biden administration said, okay, they're going to…
I mean, it's the same old tactics, like deny, block, delay, right? You're a lot less cynical than I am, you know, but I'm just like, what's even, I mean, not that obviously it's huge and important and the pressure has to keep being there, but like I said, four years, how I mean, you know, we could…