The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced the launch of $30 billion private investment fund for climate projects in developing countries during the COP28 summit in Dubai.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the oil-rich country, announced the launch of new climate fund on the first day of the climate change conference COP28 on Friday.
He expressed the hope that the new climate fund called ‘Altera’ will inspire a total of $25 trillion in investment by 2030.
A consensus on a 'Loss and Damage' fund has given this year's annual climate conference a
great start.
Small island nations mostly at risk from climate change have been fighting for the fund for nearly three decades. The last day of November this year came with a ray of hope for them.
Although a consensus came at last, the first announcement of this fund came at the last Egypt conference. But there were differences of opinion on how it would be financed, how the affected countries would get money and who would manage the fund. But a few weeks before the COP28 conference, developed and developing countries moved away from their respective positions and prepared the way for unity.
The ‘Loss and Damage Fund’ will pay for compensation to the countries currently facing the worst impacts of climate change. Rich countries will compensate, mainly because of their industrialisation, which caused the global warming crisis and put the whole wild life in danger.
Poor countries suffer the most, despite relatively low carbon emissions. And the countries have been facing with rising sea levels, a succession of extreme floods, storms and droughts.
Various gases like carbon dioxide are produced from the combustion of fossil fuels in different fields, including industry and transportation. These gases accumulate as a layer in the atmosphere, preventing the Earth's heat from radiating out.
As the temperature of this planet gradually increases, the climate is changing and the environmental disaster is happening. Even though industrialised countries finally agreed to meet the responsibility of endangering life, livelihood, biodiversity, cultural heritage, etc. in vulnerable countries, the amount of money promised to the fund so far is only $47.5 million.
Among them, the host of this year's Cup, the UAE and Germany have agreed to pay$100 million and the European Union to pay $225 million.
The United Kingdom gives $4 crores to this fund, another two crores in fund management, and the United States, one of the top polluters, gives only one crore seven million dollars. But experts say that this fund needs at least 40 thousand billion dollars a year in the beginning. If it is $10 billion or below, this compensation will not be useful.
The success of this fund will begin only when those affected by the climate crisis have the opportunity to directly collect the money needed for them, when the international community can fully support them.
Almost all the world's organisations working to deal with the climate change want to make it mandatory for the rich to pay a certain amount into this damage fund. Some also favour a carbon tax to secure climate finance. Once compensation money is disbursed among the climate-affected countries, dependence on fossil fuels will be reduced. But rich industrialised countries are not in favor of such compulsory financing. They want financing to be optional.
Experts, climate activists, lawyers, decision makers, cultural activists and people from various professions and fields are the members of the L&DC Alliance. Mohammad Shamsuddssoha, Chief Executive of the Center for Participatory Research and Development, believes that Bangladesh also has the opportunity to receive money from the Loss and Damage Fund.
‘Primarily industrialised rich countries will pay here as they wish. Those in other countries who have the capacity can do it. We cannot expect that rich countries will pay a lot of money here. However, as a country at risk due to climate, Bangladesh will also get the opportunity to take money from this fund, whatever the amount,' said Mohammad Shamsuddoha.
