Despite 31 years of pressure, 26 COPs and multiple workshops and dialogues, no dedicated finance to help people deal with the aftermath of climate impacts – also known as “finance to address Loss and Damage” – has been delivered under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This brief makes clear why a Loss and Damage Finance Facility must be established at COP27.

Highlighting how finance to address Loss and Damage has been repeatedly blocked by developed countries under the UNFCCC, the brief includes a timeline of delay, with all the pushes made by developing countries for finance and the tactics used by developed countries to block progress shown alongside extreme weather events, rising CO2 and huge fossil fuel industry profits. The typical arguments used by developed countries are then exposed and rebutted, before the brief zooms in on 2022 as a year that exemplifies this delay, with the Glasgow Dialogue agreed at COP26, huge fossil fuel profits being posted and numerous extreme weather events linked to climate leading to massive losses and damages. The brief ends with the overarching recommendation that a finance facility must be agreed at COP27.

Endorsed by 24 international and national organisations, the brief is prefaced by messages from Mia Amor Mottley; Prime Minister of Barbados, Mary Robinson; Chair of The Elders, and Mohamed Nasheed; Former president of the Maldives, and ambassador for ambition of the Climate Vulnerable Forum.