“Loss and damage was a win, but we’re kidding ourselves if we think it’s a tick in the box for finance and support at this COP; more is required, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell told journalists at COP28 on Wednesday 6 December 2023.

by Marco Lopez

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Dec. 7, 2023

This week, the Government of Belize announced that bilateral meetings led by the Belizean team at COP28 in Dubai have resulted in access to up to BZ$122 million which has been either identified or secured for in-country climate adaptation and resiliency building measures.

According to the release, Minister Chris Coye and CEO Osmand Martinez met with several climate finance development partners, securing a $10 million grant from the Adaptation Fund for building community resilience through transformative adaptation. That project will be carried out by the Protected Area Conservation Trust (PACT) and will commence at the start of next year.

As the two-week climate change conference reaches its mid-point, governments must give their negotiators clear marching orders, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell said in a press conference yesterday.

“We need highest ambition, not point-scoring or lowest common denominator politics,” Stiell commented. Finance is the great enabler for climate action – and with the win on the Loss and Damage Fund at the onset of the conference, participants and negotiators have a pep in their step they will need to maintain through to the end of the conference.

Attendees are stressing the call for a “just transition” as the world moves toward clean energy sources. Negotiators are focused on three key issues: phasing out or reducing the use of fossil fuels, building resilience to climate impact, and financial support for vulnerable countries.

After decades of economic growth fueled by oil and gas, the call is for the transition to be done in a way that ensures workers and communities that remain reliant on fossil fuels are not left behind.

And while large-scale protest is seen as a key feature of the COP, those demonstrations are for the most part missing in Dubai, the largest city in the UAE. Following the first few days of the conference, demonstrators are slowly beginning to make their voices heard.

A small group of demonstrators in the UN-managed Blue Zone area chanted slogans over the presence of oil and gas fossil companies and the participation of lobbyists. They argued that those entities have been given an undue platform in the climate negotiations. At the start of the conference, COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber urged participants to be open and inclusive – encouraging parties to be open to fossil fuel interests having a seat at the table.

This week, COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the COP28 presidency at the World Climate Action Summit on December 2, in Dubai.

So far, an estimated one billion US dollars have been pledged by donors. This is seen as only a drop in the bucket considering the trillions of dollars needed for mitigation and adaptations. In essence, all the work done in those areas – to address the climate crisis – is to ultimately protect the health of humanity and posterity.

For the first time, Health Ministers are engaged at the conference of parties with Environmental Ministers – signalling a shift in how the climate reality is perceived by leaders.

About 123 parties signed on to the declaration. It was announced ahead of the first ever Climate Health Day held at a COP. Again, marking the world’s first open acknowledgement of the need for governments to protect communities by preparing healthcare systems to cope with climate-related health impacts.