Context: 

Recently, the United States has withdrawn from the board of the United Nations climate damage fund.

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• This withdrawal aligns with Trump’s administration’s “America first” agenda.
• According to the UN, as of 23 January 2025, 27 countries and regions have pledged a total of US$741 million to the fund, $17.5 million came from the US.
• Earlier, the Trump administration also halted the participation of U.S. scientists in global climate assessments, withdrew from funding deals to help nations reduce coal use, and again took the country out of the Paris climate agreement.

United Nations Climate Loss and Damage Fund

The Conference of the Parties (COP) established this funding arrangement for assisting developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

The “loss and damage” fund was instituted at the COP27 summit in 2022, and under COP28 (2023) of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, it was agreed to formally operationalise the fund as an entity entrusted with the operation of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention.

• Loss and damage refer to the negative consequences that arise from the unavoidable risks of climate change, like rising sea levels, heat waves, desertification, etc.

The Fund will be accountable to and function under the guidance of the COP and the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA).

Implication of USA Withdrawal from the fund

• USA Withdrawal from the fund not only exemplifies a longstanding pattern of obstruction by the U.S. government in securing necessary finance for addressing climate impacts but also undermines global efforts to deliver climate justice.
• This move will almost decimate global climate finance from the developed world, data shows, with potentially devastating impacts on vulnerable nations.