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For low-lying Pacific island states, forced relocation due to climate change impacts is now a reality.
In Fiji, at least 42 villages have been listed for potential relocation in the next five to 10 years.
Reverend James Bhagwan is an ordained Methodist Minister in Fiji and also the general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches.
‘We really need to see Pacific countries be heard, be responded to. And as we keep saying: we're on the frontline but everybody's next. What you are doing to us, you are doing to yourselves.”
And now more than 30 years after small island states called for a loss and damage fund, there has now been a breakthrough.
COP28 host Sultan al-Jaber made the announcement on day one of the UN climate talks.
‘I invite the COP to adopt the draft decision contained in document FCCC/CP/2023/L.1. Hearing no objections, it is so decided” (sound of applause).
For the first time, wealthy nations have pledged funds for the so-called loss and damage fund to recognise the impacts of climate change on developing nations that go beyond the established climate finance categories of mitigation and adaptation.
Caritas Australia's advocacy associate director Damian Spruce says it's a big deal.
He was in Dubai attending COP28 when the announcement was made.
‘Well, you have got funds for adaptation. For instance, in the Pacific we have sea walls or mangroves. But when you can't do that, when things get totally wiped out- that is loss and damage. Do for instance, when cyclone Pam came and devastated Vanuatu in about 2017 - half of the country's GDP was wiped out in one hit. You had telecommunications that went down. So you need a loss and damage fund to provide resources quickly to address those large-scale issues. Because otherwise, if you don't have that then a climate crisis becomes a social crisis. It becomes an economic crisis. It becomes a health crisis.”
In 1992, the key concept of what's called "Common But Differentiated Responsibilities" was endorsed by nation states as part of an international environmental treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The idea recognises that developing countries, like small island states, are bearing the brunt of the climate change impacts such as rising sea levels, even though they have emitted very little of the global historical emissions.
But pinning down the exact shape of a loss and damage scheme has been challenging.
While the idea was endorsed at last year's UN climate talks in Egypt, it was decided the next 12 months would be spent trying to figure out the details, including: the fund's structure and operational framework.
An attendee of many COPs, including the latest in Dubai, Mr Bhagwan says to see the idea of a loss and damage fund finally come to fruition, 30 years on, is gratifying - but it is frustrating it has taken so long.
‘My response was unfortunately double-edge. At one point, I'm glad to see that we finally have a loss and damage fund for operationalisation. On the other hand, it is really disappointing that it has taken that long. What we are seeing is a pittance, in terms of the pledges. And of course, there was a comment from one of my colleagues who said somebody should go around with a phone with Paypal to each of the countries that as they make the commitment, they need to put the money in straightaway. As we see with the Green Climate Fund, with adaptation funding - lots of pledges get made, but very little money comes in. It is really about put up or shut up, in some of these cases. And I don't like using that sort of strong language, but that is the situation that we are facing.”
Australia was part of the transitional committee set the task to make recommendations on an organisational structure for the loss and damage fund, which was adopted at COP28.
The fund now has a combined total of $700 million US dollars ($1 billion Australian dollars) from countries including the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Italy and France.
Australia has not pledged any money to the fund, despite announcing money for other funds - including $50 million to the Green Climate and another $100 million to the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Dr Spruce says that needs to change.
“Well, we're saying at least 100 million dollars into the lost and damage fund. Australia has said it has been wanting to play a leading role in loss and damage, specifically for its Pacific neighbours. And has taken a role in the transitional committee to help set up the fund. But at the moment, despite the EU, America, the UK, Italy, France, the UAE all contributing to the fund; Australia has contributed nothing. So it needs to step up its game on that.”
The OECD says the actual climate financing needs of poor nations could total UJS$1 trillion per year by 2025.
Julie-Anne Richards is part of the economic loss and damage collective - an international network of 200 -plus members, including researchers, artists and other civil society voices.
She says the amount pledged so far for the loss and damage fund represents less than 0.2 per cent of what is needed.
“So that US$400 billion is what is needed every year. And the commitment to the loss and damage fund was US$700 million. Now that didn't Australia committing. We've got a long way to go. And there is a lot of opportunity for us to look at new ways of filling that fund. Just the five top oil companies, they made twice that amount of 400 billion in profits in just one year. So yes, it's a lot of money. But it's not an insurmountable amount of money. We Australia tax fossil fuel companies pay very little. So some of our biggest fossil fuel companies that are extracting gas and coal and exporting it, pay either little or no corporate tax. We could very easily change that.”
Aside from the amount of money in the fund, Pacific leaders have concerns about the fund's design - and in particular, the need to include non-economic loss and damage.
Reverend Bhagwan says this factor is critical.
‘Non-economic loss and damage, which is a key concern for many Pacific island countries in context of cultural and spiritual trauma that our communities experience - the impact of climate change. Those processes will need investment, in terms of how to develop frameworks for funding non-economic loss and damage. Which you ultimately cannot put a value to. Because some things to us in the Pacific are worth more than money. We're talking about lives that are going to be lost. We're talking about loss of identity, loss of place, which is deeply rooted in the Pacific identity.”
Decisions on how the money in the fund will be allocated - including which developing countries receive the aid and what constitutes non-economic loss and damage, will begin to become clearer in January 2024, when the 26-member board is selected.
The fund will initially be hosted by the World Bank - a decision which has concerned some campaigners who want the money issued as grants - and not loans - and who want developing nations to have a greater say in where the money goes.
Flora Vano from ActionAid Vanuatu says it is becoming more difficult to recover from the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events in Vanuatu, which has been hit by three cyclones this year alone.
‘We are in a constant state of emergency from March until now. The entire year is a state of emergency. Our disasters in Vanuatu, we are currently facing seven to eight in one month. And that is earthquakes, to ash rain, to sea level rise, droughts, cyclones. You name, every disaster you can get, we had it in Vanuatu. Who else will listen to us? Where else can we ask for support and help?”
She says the critical thing with the new fund is that the money flows swiftly to those who need it.
Ms Vano travelled half way around the word, 13,000 kilometres, to deliver a message directly to world leaders at COP28, including major fossil fuel exporter Australia.
She says Australia should take stronger action to end ties to fossil fuels and contribute to the loss and damage fund, particularly if it wants to make a successful bid to co-host a future COP alongside Pacific Island nations.
“Our future is being decided right now, here at COP28. And we needed to have a clear pathway to see that our future generations can be part of our society. Can call themselves from Vanuatu, being in Melanesian ethnic groups, and being identified as a Pacific Islander in the Pacific Ocean. We don't want to be erased from the map. We do not want to be forgotten.”
Also fighting for their survival are the 11,200 residents in Tuvalu, one of the first countries expected to be completely lost to rising sea levels in the next 50 to 100 years.
During exceptionally high tides, roughly 40 per cent of the main island is inundated with sea water.
The former foreign minister of Tuvalu, Simon Kofe, two years ago addressed COP leaders while standing knee-high in water.
He has now been tasked with developing contingency plans - including creating a digital version of Tuvalu to preserve the island's culture; and working to preserve the nation's statehood in international law, should the physical land disappear.
‘Where this concept of a digital nation is that we're creating jurisdiction online that basically represents everything that is Tuvalu. And a part of that is looking at the metaverse - and how we can use those sorts of platforms to capture our culture, record our history. We're still at the early stages. We've captured some of our songs, stories, and some of our local artefacts.”
His philosophy has been to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
He says relocation, including Australia's offer to host 280 Tuvaluans annually on a special visa in a bilateral treaty, is an option of last resort.
The loss and damage fund is something he sees as critical to climate justice.
‘We're contributing very little to the problem, yet we are facing the full brunt of the impacts of climate change. But I think it places countries like Tuvalu in a strong moral position to make these demands on the international stage. And it's not calling on countries to help little countries. It's a matter of justice. Countries that have enriched themselves by destroying the environment, have a responsibility to compensate.”
