At the COP29 conference, developing countries, including small island nations, least developed countries, and African nations, eagerly anticipated the full operation of the long-awaited Loss and Damage Fund.
During his presidency of the twenty-ninth Conference of the Parties, President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan prioritized addressing the challenges posed by the impacts of climate change on small island developing states.
The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27), which took place in Egypt, approved the creation of the Loss and Damage Fund.
The fund aims to provide financial assistance to the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The decision to launch the fund's operations took place during the COP28 in the United Arab Emirates.
According to the official website of "COP29," the presidency of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties has taken important steps to ensure the operation of the fund by working closely with its board of directors and the World Bank.
During the third meeting of the Fund's Board of Directors in Baku in September of this year, the Board took decisive measures to initiate its operations, including the appointment of Senegalese Ibrahim Cheikh Diop as the Fund's Executive Director.
The 29th Conference of the Parties saw the signing of several significant agreements pertaining to the Loss and Damage Fund.
This includes the "Trustee Agreement" and the "General Hosting Agreement" between the Fund's Board of Directors and the World Bank, as well as the "Host Country Agreement" between the Fund's Board of Directors and the host country, the Republic of the Philippines.
And so far, the total pledged financial support for the fund exceeds $730 million.
Thanks to these achievements, the Loss and Damage Fund will be able to start financing projects in 2025. This represents another success for Azerbaijan's presidency of the 29th Conference of the Parties.
