EU promises ‘substantial’ climate damage funding pledge

Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said the bloc will announce details at COP28.

The European Union will make a “substantial” financial pledge toward a new fund for climate damages, the bloc’s climate commissioner said today. 

A group of negotiators earlier this month agreed on the structure of a new fund to support developing countries hit by climate disasters — known as loss and damage in international talks — with the hope of finalizing details at the COP28 climate summit starting on November 30. 

Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra is “ready to announce a substantial financial contribution by the EU and its member states to the loss and damage fund” during COP28, according to a joint statement he issued with COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber. 

That pledge will come “in the context of an ambitious outcome at COP28,” the statement continues. 

On Sunday, POLITICO reported that Hoekstra had been touring EU capitals to gather cash pledges for the new fund. Danish climate minister Dan Jørgensen told POLITICO last week that Copenhagen was already working on a pledge. 

Hoekstra also said the EU would announce a “financial contribution” to support global targets to triple renewable capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030, a priority for Brussels at COP28. 

The EU’s announcement raises pressure on other developed countries to follow suit. Hoekstra and al-Jaber’s statement stressed the importance of “early pledges” to kickstart the fund. 

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Friday he was “confident” Washington would contribute. The Biden administration has, however, struggled to get financing for international climate efforts through Congress.