NASSAU, BAHAMAS- Prime Minister Philip Davis, while delivering The Bahamas’ national statement at COP28 in Dubai, questioned how long countries like The Bahamas must now wait before they can access a fund aimed at helping nations hit hardest by the climate crisis.
During his address Prime Minister Davis said, “We welcome the pledges made in the past two days at this COP, to the ‘Loss and Damage Fund’. Surely this puts beyond doubt and debate, that the principle has now been settled: ‘the polluter pays’. But it has taken 30 years to agree that there should be a fund for ‘Loss and Damage’.
“And in 13 years we have not yet hit the original pledge goal of $100 billion per year. How long must we now wait to have this new fund capitalized? And how long must we wait before we can access the funds? Time is a luxury we do not have.”
Davis added:“And so we are left wondering how we should interpret the pledges of this COP.”
Global delegates at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai formally adopted the loss and damage fund that was decades in the making, with several countries pledging millions of dollars to it to help nations hit hardest by the climate crisis.
