Pre-COP31 Climate Talks Begin in Fiji and Tuvalu: The Road to COP31 and the Loss and Damage Fund Explained

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the main global treaty on climate change. Its aim is to keep greenhouse gases in the air at a level that prevents dangerous human interference with the climate. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is its supreme decision-making body: all member countries meet once a year to review progress and take decisions. The same meeting also serves as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) and to the Paris Agreement (CMA).

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a UN-recognised group of small island and low-lying coastal developing countries. They share special problems: small populations, remote locations, narrow economies, heavy dependence on imports, and very high exposure to cyclones and sea-level rise. Many of them contribute almost nothing to global emissions but face the worst effects. In climate talks they negotiate together through the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

"Loss and damage" means the harm caused by climate change that cannot be avoided by cutting emissions (mitigation) or by adjusting to the changes (adaptation). Examples are homes washed away by a cyclone, farmland made salty by the sea, or an island community forced to leave its homeland. The Loss and Damage Fund, officially called the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), is a global fund under the UN climate system that gives money to vulnerable developing countries to recover from such harm. It was agreed at COP27 in 2022 and made operational at COP28 in 2023.