COP30 climate conference held at Belém, Brazil from 10-21 November 2025 has ended. Over 56,000 delegates representing governments, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, scientists, business leaders, and Indigenous Peoples’ attended the conference in person, and more than 5,000 delegates joined virtually over the COP digital platform Maloca an “immersive and inclusive space” for “dialogue, collaboration, and solutions, ensuring that voices from every region, especially the Global South, can help shape the outcomes of climate conferences”. They have since returned to their respective countries and are back at their offices-desks preparing reports, advisories and plans of action.

Notably, 195 Parties adopted the Belém Package or Just Global Transition and the Gender Action Planclearly showcasing global commitment to take collective action to address climate change with utmost urgency. “The spirit we built here does not end with the gavel; it continues in every government meeting, every boardroom and trade union, every classroom, laboratory, forest community, large city, and coastal town.” said COP30 President, André Corrêa do Lago.

COP30, like its earlier iterations, too witnessed numerous technical meetings, the delegates delivered-listened to speeches and made pledges, there were voluntary commitments, and promises were made to enhance cooperation and support. All in all, a good COP with several takeaways notwithstanding the ‘naysayers’ who were dissatisfied that “specific references to critical minerals or fossil fuels, [for which] the decision to develop the mechanism remains a significant step forward” were not flagged.  In particular, the disappointment was for over 80 countries who were hoping that the final text would include a proper “road map to transition away from fossil fuels” thereby highlighting the political and economic resistance despite increasingly favourable global trends in renewable alternatives.

Among the many issues that came up for debate-discussion-decision, “Loss and Damage” (L&D) has been on the menu of UN climate negotiations for over three decades since 1991. It got a boost in 2022 when a fund was set up to address this issue. During COP30, it was informed by Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), which focusses on L&D, that voluntary contributions had touched US$800 million, with over US$400 million already released.

What is Loss and Damage? Although there is no official definition put out by the UN during international climate negotiations, Loss and Damage refers to costs to societies and infrastructure from nature induced events such as “cyclones, droughts and heat waves, sea level rise, desertification, glacial retreat, land degradation, ocean acidification and salinization”. In some cases these result in permanent changes-damages-losses (cartographic changes, reduction in water supplies, cultivable land turning unproductive, damage to houses, low-lying islands and fetures submerging, infrastructure destroyed, heritage sites lost, etc.). Loss and Damage also relates to services such as loss of occupation, farming outputs, low fish catch, supply chains disruptions and loss in livelihoods. These result in conditions where the States or their communities’ do not have technical, fiscal, organisational and knowledge to assess and undertake adaptation measures.

L&D due to climate change can be put into at least two categories i.e. economic and non-economic; although these are not necessarily distinct, and in cases these could be at the intersection of the two. In essence, economic L&D impacts “critical infrastructure, property or supply chain” and disrupt “resources, goods and services that are commonly traded in markets” and impacts on individual farmers or communities at different levels (globally, national and locally like people or farmers, etc.). The non-economic L&D could include costs related to impact on “culture, identity, language, biodiversity, health, mental health and wellbeing”.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) and the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA), have set up a “fund for responding to loss and damage” i.e. Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) which focusses on L&D and help developing countries “ vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in responding to economic and non-economic loss and damage”. The inaugural High-Level Dialogue (HLD) of the FRLD was held on the margins of the 2025 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings under the theme “Strengthening Responses to Loss and Damage through Complementarity, Coherence and Coordination”. The FRLD is supported by $768 million (pledges from 27 countries) and $250 million now being under the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM) for 2025–2026.

At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, FRLD participated in a series of events focused on loss and damage. These discussions brought together government representatives, national, regional and international organizations, policy experts, researchers, and civil society to share experiences, exchange ideas, and listen to diverse perspectives. FRLD emphasized the importance of “bottom-up, country-led and country-owned approaches” to addressing L&D, and reiterated direct access as a core principle of the FRLD. The FRLD hopes to increase its annual disbursement to US$ 400 billion by 2030. It was also informed that “call for funding requests” would open on 15 December 2025, and the applicants (developing countries) will have six months to submit their requests, and disbursals could start by June 2026.

It is true that L&D continues to impact vulnerable communities the most, and therefore addressing the issue is an urgent matter. The FRLD support will be critical to empowers communities to rebuild and adapt, but it will need generous funding by the donors

Dr. Vijay Sakhuja is former Director National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi and is associated with Kalinga International Foundation, New Delhi.