Alliance of least developed countries, Small Island Developing States to create national facilities to address loss and damage

Facilities will pool funding from private sector, development aid, philanthropies, insurance, debt relief and national budgets.

Press release, 05 March 2023

A group of least developed countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are forming an alliance to create national finance facilities to address loss and damage from climate change. The facilities will pool funding from the private sector, development aid, philanthropies, insurance, debt relief and national budgets. The alliance is being launched today (6 March) by the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and IIED.

LDCs and SIDS are groups of lower-income countries that are most at risk from climate change and negotiate as blocs in the UN climate change talks. At the latest round of talks in Egypt in November 2022 (COP27) delegates reached an agreement to provide funding for those countries suffering loss and damage associated with the impacts of climate change, but there was no agreement on how the fund would be delivered.

ICCCAD and IIED are proposing the alliance to directly support countries and communities experiencing loss and damage by helping them optimise existing finance and expertise through the creation of national facilities, making them ready to deploy additional funds when available. Progressive contributor governments and philanthropies have also been invited to the launch in the hope that they will support the alliance by committing funding.

Saleemul Huq, director of ICCCAD, said: “People seeing their homes flooded and their crops withering from drought already live amid the impacts of climate change and know best how to respond. What they need most is the money to allow them to do so and they need access to those funds before crisis hits. They can’t afford to wait until the world wakes up and starts filling the coffers of the loss and damage fund.”

Tom Mitchell, executive director of IIED, said: “Loss and damage looks different for every person but can include loss of home or land, loss of employment or productivity, or loss of cultural heritage and language. Getting money and other help to different people must put their voices and experiences at the forefront of the design of national loss and damage finance facilities”. 

The alliance will also aim to create a wider understanding of the issues around loss and damage and their possible solutions, including enabling local communities to co-create the solutions to their problems. The alliance will also set out to capture knowledge around models, methodologies, approaches and solutions to loss and damage to build a marketplace of innovative ideas and solutions.

By publishing data and evidence generated through the national facilities, the alliance hopes to create an understanding of what is needed where, and work with LDCs and SIDS to develop clear ‘asks’ for money and spending frameworks so new money can be put to work fast. 

For more information or to request an interview, contact Simon Cullen: 
+44 7503 643332 or [email protected]