11 November 2025

On the opening day of #COP30, the Fund for responding to #LossAndDamage (FRLD) took a critical step forward by launching its first Call for Funding Requests under the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM), the Fund’s start-up phase, and so called as it was approved at the Fund’s fifth Board meeting in Barbados. This call represents a significant milestone in the Fund’s journey, as it marks the Fund’s transition from establishment to operationalization.

In response, Harjeet Singh, Climate Activist and Founding Director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, said: “While we welcome the launch of the Barbados Implementation Modalities – making the Loss and Damage Fund technically operational three years after its establishment – it is already failing the people it was promised to protect.

“As we sit in Belém, devastating climate impacts are hammering Jamaica and the Philippines. They need help now. Yet this Fund is starting with a fraction of the scale required, it has no genuine access for frontline communities, and it has completely failed to function as a rapid response mechanism.

“This requires urgent course correction. We demand that the Fund matches the scale of the crisis, not the scale of political convenience. The countries and communities facing the worst consequences—those who had no role in causing this crisis—deserve more than an empty shell. This is not climate justice.”

Civil society present at Belém largely welcomed the BIM:

Jefferson Estela, East and Southeast Asia Coordinator, Loss and Damage Youth Coalition: “The launch of BIM represents a historic step towards delivering finance for communities already facing loss and damage. Just a week before COP30, the Philippines was struck by two powerful typhoons. As our communities struggle to rebuild from the devastation from Typhoon Kamaegi and Super Tyhphoon Fu-wung, the urgency for accessible and rapid funding could not be more real. For young people on the frontlines, this is not just a policy milestone but a matter of justice and survival. While the BIM offers a path forward, it must work alongside the SNLD and WIM to ensure finance comes with the technical knowledge support communities need. Above all, developed countries must dramatically scale up contributions so the Fund becomes a lasting commitment and not a lifeline that ends before it begins.”

Fenton Lutunatabua, Pacific Team Lead, 350.org: “In the Pacific, loss and damage goes beyond shorelines, coral reefs and agriculture – it also includes our languages, our traditional medicines, our cultures. We welcome the BIM as a long awaited development in the Loss and Damage Fund, and evidence of Small Islands States again leading the charge on addressing the climate crisis. But we must be clear that current numbers are inefficient to address the sheer magnitude of the climate crisis, and global financial architecture is not built with our frontline communities’ capacity in mind. We hope this is a step towards more accessible, grant-based and efficient finance to create the living conditions that our people deserve.”

Fred Njehu, Global Political Lead, Greenpeace Africa: “We must recognise that the Loss and Damage Fund is not charity for Africa, it is a matter of climate justice. Africa is already losing 2-5% of GDP each year to climate impacts and faces adaptation bills of US$30-50 billion annually and they keep increasing. 

“Our local communities and Indigenous Peoples are paying the highest price for a crisis they did not create, from droughts and floods to destroyed livelihoods. Fully-resourcing the fund at COP30 is both a moral duty and a practical necessity to help vulnerable nations recover, rebuild and chart a dignified path toward sustainable development.

“Financing the Loss and Damage Fund is the true test of global solidarity and critical to restore trust in the #Multilateral climate process and there’s no lack of money: to fund loss and damage but also climate action and #Adaptation, it’s time to make polluters pay.”

Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network International: “Justice is at the heart of the Loss and Damage Fund and without adequate financing, it will be hollow. We welcome the announcement by the FRLD on the first phase of the call for funding applications. However, we are deeply concerned that the scale of funding is still not enough to meet the growing needs to address losses and damages caused by the climate crisis. Developed countries have legal and moral obligations to deliver this finance and must significantly scale up grants-based finance for the fund. COP30 must ensure that this initial US$250 million currently in the Fund is indeed scaled up and should send a clear signal that the Fund’s long-term resource mobilization strategy will be aligned with the scale of needs, estimated at hundreds of billions annually.”

Obed Koringo, Climate Policy Advisor, CARE international: “The operatizationalization of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage is a long-awaited step, yet without real money, the Fund could remain hollow and unable to meet the needs it was created for. The start-up phase offers a pathway forward, but with $250 million funding pot and proposals of $5–20 million, demand will already outstrip resources. Communities on the frontlines cannot survive on promises. The Fund must deliver adequate, fast, fair and accessible long-term support, and developed countries must commit to addressing the escalating losses and damages hitting vulnerable countries. Anything less is a failure of responsibility and solidarity.”

Cheng Pagulayan, Climate Justice Portfolio Manager, Oxfam Pilipinas: “Oxfam welcomes the launch of the Loss and Damage Fund’s start-up phase. But we must acknowledge the current global context: the Philippines, one of the most climate-at-risk countries, is grappling with two deadly typhoons in just one week. The alarming impacts of Typhoons Kalmaegi and Fung-wong should make clear to the Loss and Damage Fund board and world leaders that the scale and frequency of climate-related disasters do not match the existing pot of money we have to address loss and damage. With more than 200 dead and 1.4 million evacuees, what more do world leaders need to be convinced to act urgently and seriously to end the climate crisis? We urge government leaders to fill the fund for responding to loss and damage and put greater focus on this as an agenda item at COP30.”

Thea Erfjord, Leader of Spire (youth environment and development NGO) /Forum for environment and development: “Climate justice cannot wait. The Loss and Damage Fund must not become another empty promise for those least responsible, yet most impacted communities.This launch of calls for proposals marks the operationalisation of this long-overdue Fund. However, for the fund to deliver on climate justice major emitters need to take their responsibility and drastically scale up the finance.” 

Sandeep Chamling Rai, Global Advisor on Climate Change Adaptation, WWF International: “WWF welcomes the launch of the start-up phase of the Loss and Damage Fund. However, US$250 million is a drop in the ocean compared with what’s required. Even at the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees, the loss and damage in developing countries will be severe. There is an urgent need to scale it up from millions to billions, if not trillions.  

“COP30 must pave the way for providing more long-term, predictable finance to address loss and damage. This is a matter of survival for many vulnerable developing countries, their people and ecosystems. We don’t have the luxury of time.”

Hari Krishna Nibanupudi, Global Climate Change Adviser, HelpAge International: “The launch of the Loss and Damage Fund marks a crucial step toward achieving climate justice. Its true value will lie in how swiftly and fairly resources reach those living the realities of climate loss—farmers, fishers, Indigenous peoples, and older people alike—whose resilience continues to hold communities together.”

Bronwen Tucker, Public Finance Co-Manager, Oil Change International: “The overdue launch of the Losee and Damage fund is a vital step. But while wealthy governments claim there is not enough money to fill the fund, we know this is not true:  the money is there, it is just in the wrong hands. Global North governments could mobilise $6.6 trillion a year right now for climate action, including to fill the fund, by ending fossil fuel subsidies, taxing the ultra-rich and reforming debt and unfair financial systems.”

Gerry Arances, Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development: “As global leaders landed in Belem, millions of Filipinos were fending for their lives from another series of deadly typhoons. This step forward in the operationalization of the FRLD is long-overdue yet welcome. But it will only begin to embody climate justice if historical polluters pay up their climate debt proportionate to the devastation suffered by nations like ours, and if stringent mechanisms are in place to ensure that communities genuinely, directly, and urgently benefit. These must go hand in hand with putting a stop to the exacerbation of loss and damage from the world’s continued reliance on fossil fuels. Every penny that still goes into fossil finance while funds to address loss and damage remain a drop in the ocean is a betrayal to the climate survival of the world’s most vulnerable peoples.”

Isatis M. Cintron, Director, ACE Observatory: “The launch of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage marks a historic step toward justice for those who have endured the greatest climate losses. Communities cannot afford another cycle of promises without action. We expect this startup phase to showcase high-quality proposals that channel resources directly to those most affected and set a new standard for responsiveness and equity. Frontline communities have waited far too long for resources that match the scale of their realities. Yet the current size of the fund remains far from sufficient, and its delivery must accelerate to meet the urgency of this moment. We urge the countries to fill the fund aligned with their international obligations.”

Mariana Paoli, Christian Aid: “The launch of the Loss and Damage fund at COP30 is welcomed and long over due. Poor people in developing countries are the most affected by loss and damage and yet they have contributed the least to cause climate change. Filling the fund is not a matter of charity but an obligation of developed countries – it is about equity, justice and reparations. If they want to show leadership, they must provide public finance at scale for climate action, especially on loss and damage.”

Knellee BIsram, AHAM Education Inc.: ”We applaud the leadership by our Small Island neighbors in the launch of the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM). We urge member states, private and other non governmental stakeholders to ensure that Loss and Damage leaves no one behind and no need behind. A Fund that truly restores vulnerable and affected communities with justice MUST incorporate funding that covers the cost of rebuilding socio-cultural loss, that address special needs populations, that supports climate-related emotional and mental health including recovery from psychological trauma and simultaneously anticipate inevitable pre-disaster community-wide eco-anxiety and eco-grief. At COP30, member states must think outside of the box and connect to real needs to ensure that mechanisms are put in place at the local level to operationalize a more holistic resiliency response that compensates for ecological, economic, physical, mental, emotional, cultural and community loss.”

Sanjay Vashist, Climate Action Network South Asia: “For #SouthAsia, already reeling from floods, #Heatwaves, and storms, the launch of the Loss and Damage Fund is overdue but welcome. Yet with only $250 million, it’s a drop in the ocean of needs. COP30 must scale it up and ensure funds reach frontline communities directly, no loans, no debt. This must be a justice-based, grant-driven fund rooted in transparency and accountability. Those who caused the crisis must pay their fair share—not as charity, but as obligation—so the Fund can deliver what it promised: rapid relief, full repair, and dignity.”

John Leo Algo, Aksyon Klima Pilipinas: “Another climate COP is happening when my country, the Philippines, is being struck by typhoons in rapid succession. It happened with Haiyan in 2013, the six storms that battered the country in just four weeks last year, and back-to-back typhoons Kalmaegi and Fung-Wang in the past few days. This is why the launch of the first call for proposals under the FRLD is more than welcomed. But we are long tired of losing – losing our homes, livelihoods, loved ones, and time to avoid extreme impacts. This launch does not address the core issues of the FRLD. It’s not just about the imperative to fill the Fund with sufficient and accessible funding; the most vulnerable need to “feel the Fund” that is intended to protect them from the worst of the climate crisis.”

Fidelis Stehle, FIMCAP: “Today’s launch of the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM) is long overdue and very welcome. However, our generation cannot celebrate the creation of a fund without the necessary funding. While vulnerable and affected countries have needs amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars, justice remains out of reach. At COP30, governments must provide the Fund with the necessary scale, speed, and direction, placing human rights, justice, and youth and community leadership at its core. Young people around the world are watching closely because what is at stake is not just finance, but also justice and our shared future.”

Pratishtha Singh, Climate Action Network Canada: “Today’s launch of the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM) is welcome, but let’s be honest—USD 250 million every two years is a drop in the ocean when developing countries face hundreds of billions in loss and damage each year. The BIM can only finance a few proposals now, but this launch builds pressure for Global North countries including Canada to step up and help turn this pilot into a lifeline.”

Ben Wilson, Director of Public Engagement, SCIAF: “The launch of the BIM is a historic step towards climate justice, albeit a baby step. That the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage will finally start getting cash out to communities is of course great news, but much more cash is need as soon as possible. If the FRLD doesn’t live up to its promise, it would derail years of progress on global climate cooperation.”

Lien Vandamme, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL): “Today’s startup phase of the Loss and Damage Fund is overdue—and welcome. But unless COP30 gives clear guidance to scale the Fund in line with needs and to center justice, rights, and community leadership, this risks becoming  a climate bank with neither money nor remedy. The Fund must deliver grant-based, accessible, rights-respecting support with direct access for frontline communities and Indigenous Peoples—no loans, no debt. Transparency, participation, and accountability are non-negotiable. Communities have paid the highest price; wealthy polluters must pay their fair share—not as charity, but as a legal obligation—and at the scale the crisis demands. COP30 must give the impulse to course-correct now so the Fund delivers what it promised: rapid relief, full repair, and dignity.”

Liane Schalatek, Heinrich Böll Foundation Washington, DC: “Given the recent and current horrifying extreme weather events devastating communities in developing countries, the inaugural call for funding proposals for the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage is sorely needed and long awaited. And unfortunately, while welcome, utterly inadequate without a resource mobilization that deserves that name. With just a $250 million envelope, and invited proposals in the $5-20 million range each, we already know that demand will far outstrip what can be delivered. And it is not even secured that affected communities will

be able to directly benefit, or that money can be released rapidly following climate disasters. Yes, this is a test run. But in the long run, an FRLD at scale must do better.”

Brandon Wu, ActionAid USA: “We welcome the operationalization of the Fund for Responding to Loss & Damage. The call for proposals launched today is a key step towards getting money to directly impacted communities. However, there’s still a long way to go. Only $250 million is available – a drop in the bucket compared to the trillions needed. There are no provisions for ensuring community access to funding. There is no ability to quickly distribute money immediately after a disaster. For the FRLD to truly deliver, it must be more responsive to communities and immediate needs, and rich countries must urgently increase their contributions.”

Rachel Cleetus, Union of Concerned Scientists: “This first phase of moving toward providing funds for addressing loss and damage is welcome and long-awaited. The recent devastating climate-change-fueled typhoons and hurricanes harming people in the Philippines, Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti underscore the critical need for rapidly increasing this funding in a fair and transparent way. Breaching 1.5°C has enormous consequences for climate Loss and Damage, as poorer nations on the frontlines of the climate crisis endure a steepening toll resulting primarily from richer nations’ failure to adequately curtail their heat-trapping emissions. Countries most responsible for the climate crisis must lead the scaling up of funding for loss and damage.”

Ann Harrison, Amnesty International: “It’s great that the Barbados Implementation modalities are finally underway – and not before time.  But let’s be clear that the sums on the table do not begin to match the scale of the loss and damage that lower-income countries are already experiencing as a result of climate change caused by higher-income states. It’s also disappointing that there is no rapid disbursement mechanism or community access. 

On a recent trip to the Pacific, Amnesty was informed that some small island states lack the technical capacity to access funds from complex multilateral institutions.  This has to change if those harmed by climate change are to be able to access the funds they need to recover from the harms they have suffered.”