With just $69 million in the bank account of the fledgling loss and damage fund so far, its new executive director was urged to keep running costs as low as possible at his first board meeting this month.
Board members from 26 governments around the world questioned the fund’s current and planned spending on consultants, business-class plane tickets and the need to have a deputy executive director, at the four-day meeting in the Philippines.
Harjeet Singh, a climate activist who was at the meeting, told Climate Home the fund’s secretariat “must exercise the utmost caution and prudence in utilising resources intended for vulnerable communities recovering from climate impacts. It bears a profound responsibility to make decisions judiciously, particularly concerning its size and travel expenditures.”
Climate survivors’ fund
Governments agreed to set up the fund, which aims to help people whose lives have been shattered by extreme weather and rising seas fuelled by climate change, at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, after three decades of advocacy led by island nations.
Negotiators on the fund’s board – 12 from developed and 14 from developing nations – have spent the two years since then discussing the details of how the fund will work and, in September, they chose Senegalese-American banker Ibrahima Cheikh Diong to be its first executive director.
Senegalese banker Ibrahima Cheikh Diong picked to lead new loss and damage fund
At his first meeting with the board last week in Manila, Diong laid out his plan to get the organisation up and running so that it can start giving out money by the end of 2025.
The plan involves extensive use of external consultants – but some board members pushed back against the costs involved. Diong presented a budget that set aside nearly $0.7m to pay consultants in the first six months of 2025, out of a total budget of $4.3m.
Sudanese board member Sumaya Zakieldeen said the organisation – whose full name is the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage – should move towards getting in-house staff to do as much of the work as possible, as fast as possible next year.
She said she found the prospect of waiting until 2026 to get most of the staff hired “a little bit scary” because it would mean using external advisers and consultants in the interim – “and we know the cost implications of that”.
Fiji’s Daniel Lund, however, said he supported the use of short-term consultants so that the fund can stay on track. “We don’t see any other way to deliver that substance in the time-frames that we put in place,” he said.
World Bank raises $100 billion for poor nations in boost for climate finance
Business-class controversy
A further $0.6m will be spent on staff travel in the first half of 2025. As the fund is hosted by the World Bank, it has taken on the bank’s human resources policy, including its travel policy which allows staff to go business class if the flight is over five hours.
Denmark’s Jens Fugl said the $0.6m was “substantial”, adding that “travel should be on a need-to basis” and “not everyone from the secretariat needs to be at all board meetings, because that would really be a significant cost that we should try to avoid”.
Diong replied that he wanted to develop a “bottom-up approach” by engaging with a range of groups around the world and “you can’t do that from Washington DC”, where the fund is based at the World Bank’s headquarters.
He added that travel was necessary to persuade governments to give more money to the fund. But, he promised, “we will be extremely sensitive in making sure that we don’t over-travel”.
How can governments tackle loss and damage at the national level?
The board members are not employed by the fund, which means they are not bound by the World Bank’s rules and can set their own travel policy. The board decided that developed-country governments will pay for their own representatives to travel to meetings while the fund will pay for developing-country board members, their alternate member and one adviser each.
They decided to copy the policy of the United Nations and the Green Climate Fund, which is that flights should be economy class unless they are nine hours or longer, when personnel can chose business class but are “encouraged to voluntarily downgrade”.
This policy was resisted by the US and Denmark, who wanted more economy travel to reduce spending and emissions. The US’s Rebecca Lawlor said that flying business class produces three times as much greenhouse gas as economy class, while Denmark’s Fugl said officials’ mode of travel is “something there is a lot of scrutiny about”.
But the Philippines’ board member Mark Dennis Y.C. Joven – whose country is the board’s legal host – questioned why the fund’s developing-country board members should follow a different travel policy from the fund’s staff. He asked if that would cause “administrative inefficiencies and delays” and “raise the issue of unfair treatment or discrimination”.
The fund plans to spend $261,000 next year, mainly on getting its developing-country board members, alternates and advisers to a board meeting in Barbados. Several developed-country board members called for more virtual meetings, but developing-country members largely opposed this, citing problems with internet connectivity and anti-social hours.
Late payments
Diong’s proposal to hire a deputy executive director early next year was also questioned. Board members Sudan and Honduras asked for more justification for the position, while the Democratic Republic of Congo’s member said the board should not micromanage.
Diong said his deputy would focus on operations, advocacy and communications which would free up Diong to work on raising money, particularly pressuring wealthy nations to convert their pledges into actual financial transfers.
While rich nations have promised $749m to the fund – most if it a year ago at COP28 – just $69m has landed in its coffers to date, with the World Bank expecting this to rise to $150m by the end of the year. The UAE, UK, France and Italy between them owe over $350m.
In Baku last month, COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev pushed governments to pay up. “All countries that have pledged money must complete their contribution agreements,” he said. On top of that, “we need more pledges so we can meet the urgent needs of climate change victims,” he added.
(Reporting by Joe Lo; editing by Megan Rowling)
The post New loss and damage fund boss urged to keep costs down appeared first on Climate Home News.
But a $345 million U.S. verdict against the environmental group hangs over the case.
A lawsuit filed by Greenpeace International against the U.S.-based fossil fuel company Energy Transfer in the Netherlands is moving forward after a Dutch court recently ruled in favor of the environmental organization in rejecting the company’s bid to toss out the case.
Greenpeace’s Dutch Anti-SLAPP Case Against Oil Pipeline Giant Advances
Go behind the scenes with executive editor Vernon Loeb and oceans correspondent Teresa Tomassoni as they discuss the search for heat-resilient coral reefs that are somehow defying the odds to survive a warming planet.
The world has already lost more than half of its coral reefs, and most of what remains is at risk of disappearing in the next 25 years.
Climate Change
DeBriefed 19 June 2026: Bonn talks end in ‘gridlock’ | Energy’s ‘new era’ | Oceans in climate negotiations
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Bonn talks close
‘SIDE-STEPPING AND STALLING’: UN climate talks in Bonn have ended in “gridlock”, according to Climate Home News. The outlet reported on the failure to balance developing countries’ need for climate-adaptation finance with “richer nations’ desire to move forward” on emissions cuts. It added that both topics were subject to “rule 16”, meaning no agreement could be reached and work will be pushed to the COP31 summit in Turkey. Inside Climate News quoted UN climate executive secretary Simon Stiell, who said the talks had seen “side-stepping and stalling”.
JUST TRANSITION: One “glimmer of hope” came from negotiations on achieving a “just transition”, reported Euronews. The news outlet said negotiators “made headway on operationalising the Belém-Antalya mechanism”, intended to support people in the shift to a low-carbon economy. However, Politico concluded that much of the focus in Bonn had “shift[ed] to efforts outside diplomatic talks – raising questions about the future of global climate negotiations”.
‘ATTACKING SCIENCE’: Agence France-Presse reported on the EU, Switzerland and “dozens of developing nations” warning of “attacks on science” by a “small group of fossil-fuels interests” in Bonn. Table Briefings explained that “the 1.5C target is increasingly being challenged” and the role of the UN climate-science panel – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – in an upcoming assessment of global climate progress “remains controversial”. See Carbon Brief’s full write-up of the talks for more detail.
US-Iran deal
PRICE DROP: The US and Iran announced that they have reached an interim agreement to halt the war and reopen the strait of Hormuz, reported Bloomberg. Oil prices have fallen, as the “long-awaited deal” began the process of “eas[ing]” the global energy crisis triggered by the conflict, according to the New York Times. The Associated Press noted that high fuel prices will “likely outlast the Iran war”.
‘OIL GLUT’: The Financial Times reported that the International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecast a “glut of oil” emerging next year, if the peace deal holds. The IEA said this would allow countries to build new strategic reserves, as they “review their energy strategies and policies in response to the crisis”, according to Reuters.
‘NEW ERA’: Agence France-Presse reported that oil and gas companies have “few illusions about a return to normal for the Gulf energy industry after more than three months of blockage”. One analyst told the newswire that the war “showed the oil and gas industry that Hormuz risk is no longer just a geopolitical headline”.
Around the world
- OCEAN MONITOR: The Trump administration is “abandoning its plan” to dismantle a $368m ocean monitoring system key for tracking climate change after a “bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill”, reported the New York Times.
- CORAL HAVEN: The New York Times covered preliminary research, presented at the Our Ocean Conference in Kenya, suggesting there could be three times as many “coral refugia” – where corals are relatively safe from climate change – than previously thought.
- BAD CREDIT: Down to Earth reported that the first carbon credits issued under the Paris Agreement’s new Article 6.4 mechanism are “facing scrutiny over alleged links to institutions controlled by Myanmar’s military junta”.
- OIL BACKTRACK: Reuters reported that oil-and-gas company Equinor has dropped a renewable-energy target and scaled back clean investments, while another Reuters story noted that Shell is selling off its offshore wind assets.
1.1 billion
The number of children facing “at least three overlapping climate hazards”, according to a new Unicef report covered by Agence France-Presse.
Latest climate research
- Including the “permafrost carbon-climate feedback” in climate models increases the chance of exceeding “tipping elements” – such as the Greenland ice sheets, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or Amazon rainforest – by up to 50% | Environmental Research Letters
- The intensity of influenza outbreaks could decline in temperate regions, but increase in tropical areas over the next century, as the climate warms | PNAS Nexus
- European snow cover has declined by 20% for December and January since the start of the industrial era, revealing an “unprecedented ongoing shrinkage of European winters” | Communications Earth & Environment
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
The more than 2m battery electric vehicles (BEVs), 1m “plug-in” hybrids (PHEVs) and 100,000 electric vans on UK roads are already saving drivers a total of around £3bn a year, according to new Carbon Brief analysis. This amounts to savings of more than £1,100 a year in fuel costs for each BEV driver in the UK. The analysis comes amid reports in UK media this week that the government is considering “watering down” its EV sales targets.
Spotlight
Oceans rising at UN climate talks
The state of the world’s oceans is inextricably linked to the changing climate – and many delegates at UN climate talks want to see more focus on this issue, reports Carbon Brief.
Oceans are often described as the world’s “greatest ally” against climate change – absorbing 30% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and most of the heat generated by those emissions.
They are also the site of important climate solutions, such as huge offshore windfarms and the shipping industry’s transition to cleaner fuels.
At the same time, the oceans themselves present a growing danger to coastal communities and sea life due to sea level rise, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification.
These diverse issues have led to growing calls within the UN climate process for more focus on oceans. During climate negotiations this week in Bonn – known as SB64 – nations and civil society had a chance to air these views during an “ocean and climate change dialogue”.
‘Elevate action’
Oceans first entered UN climate outcomes in 2019, when the final COP25 negotiated text requested a new “dialogue” on “the ocean and climate change to consider how to strengthen mitigation and adaptation action”.
The following years saw this dialogue established as an annual event. However, the political weight of these discussions has been limited.
COP31 is being co-led by Turkey and Australia, but with Pacific islands playing a supporting role. These small islands sometimes self-identify as “large ocean states”, stressing the ocean’s centrality in their societies.
In Bonn, figures from across the presidency threw their weight behind this issue. Chris Bowen, an Australian minister and incoming COP31 “president of negotiations”, told attendees:
“Australia, Turkey and the Pacific see an important opportunity to elevate ocean-based climate action.”
Strategies and finance
The two-day dialogue in Bonn involved a series of panels, statements and breakout groups.
One of the main topics was how oceans are integrated into national climate plans under the Paris Agreement, known as “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs).
Three-quarters of the latest round of NDCs mention oceans, with conservation of “blue carbon” ecosystems the most frequently described action. (Landscapes such as mangroves can both absorb CO2 and protect coastal areas.)
Delegates also discussed alignment with the UN biodiversity process, as well as ocean finance, which currently makes up less than 1% of all climate finance.
(As discussions were taking place in Bonn, country officials also gathered in Mombasa, Kenya for the 11th Our Ocean Conference. Carbon Brief’s associate editor Giuliana Viglione attended the conference and will publish a full summary shortly.)
Developing countries were clear that many of the ocean-related actions in their NDCs would depend on receiving more financial support.
‘Political momentum’
With the backing of the COP31 presidency, delegates were hopeful about where this year’s dialogue could lead.
Charles Hamilton, an advisor for the Bahamas who spoke for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in the dialogue, told Carbon Brief that island representatives “are not traveling thousands of miles to just talk and pat ourselves on the back”. He added:
“A dialogue that just remains a dialogue is just more talk – no action.”
Given that, he said “discussions in the dialogue must move into COP decisions and the decisions must be actioned”, noting the importance of finance.
Marina Corrêa, oceans lead at WWF-Brazil, pointed to an upcoming UN climate change Standing Committee on Finance forum as a space to ramp up pressure on ocean finance.
More broadly, she wanted to see the presidencies translate their support into a “leader-level ocean initiative” that could “mainstream” oceans across negotiations.
“We have a really interesting opportunity, in terms of political momentum,” Corrêa told Carbon Brief.
Watch, read, listen
‘HOTTER THAN HELL’: An episode of the BBC’s Rare Earth podcast titled “hotter than hell” considered the issue of extreme heat, with input from experts and “people facing up to the hottest temperatures on the planet”.
NOT BROKEN?: John Drake, a professor of ecology at the University of Georgia, wrote an essay for Aeon – also re-published as a Guardian “long read” – questioning the framing of ecosystems and climate systems “breaking down”.
ON COURSE: On his Volts podcast, US climate journalist David Roberts interviewed UK climate minister Katie White, quizzing her about whether the UK will “stay the course with its climate plans”.
Coming up
- 20-28 June: London climate action week
- 21 June: Colombia presidential runoff
- 24 June: UK Climate Change Committee progress in reducing emissions 2026 report to parliament
Pick of the jobs
- Mongabay, managing editor – Africa | Salary: Unknown. Location: Global
- Contexte, environment reporter – Brussels | Salary: €45,000-€60,000. Location: Brussels
- Climate 200, communications director | Salary: Unknown. Location: Australia
- Energy Tracker Asia, energy transition correspondent | Salary: $3,000-$4,000 per month. Location: South-east Asia (remote)
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 19 June 2026: Bonn talks end in ‘gridlock’ | Energy’s ‘new era’ | Oceans in climate negotiations appeared first on Carbon Brief.
-
Greenhouse Gases10 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Climate Change10 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Greenhouse Gases2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Bill Discounting Climate Change in Florida’s Energy Policy Awaits DeSantis’ Approval
-
Renewable Energy8 months agoSending Progressive Philanthropist George Soros to Prison?
-
Carbon Footprint2 years agoUS SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules Spur Renewed Interest in Carbon Credits
-
Greenhouse Gases11 months ago
嘉宾来稿：探究火山喷发如何影响气候预测