Plan International Australia responds to the Australian Government’s $50 million Loss and Damage pledge

[Baku, Azerbaijan] Plan International Australia today welcomes Australia’s commitment of $50million to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage.

The loss and damage caused by climate change is completely and irrevocably reshaping the lives of communities across the Pacific region. Adolescent girls in particular are facing immense hardship, with half of girls surveyed in our recent research having missed out on school due to climate events. More than a quarter of girls we surveyed already have less food and almost 20 per cent are going hungry due to the climate crisis.

“My village is situated along the coast. Whenever there’s high tide, water comes inland and most times it covers half the village. The high tide also brings in more rubbish that dumps it right to my doorstep which affects my health,” said Bulou, a 10-year-old Indigenous girl living in a rural village in Fiji.

This important commitment from Australia must be one part of broader action towards the climate crisis at the scale needed.  Critically, in allyship with our Pacific partners, Australia should champion that loss and damage be included within the new collective, global finance goal being negotiated in Baku. Australia also needs to lift the overall volume of our climate financing, with a focus on grant-based finance that is new and additional to development assistance.

“As the world’s second largest exporter of fossil fuels, and a country that has contributed significantly to the climate crisis the world is now experiencing, this is the Australian Government’s responsibility and it is the right thing to do,” said Plan International Australia CEO Susanne Legena.

“It is imperative the Australian Government take greater, rapid climate action for the children of today and future generations. The world is facing record-breaking climate disasters, which are affecting vulnerable communities – the people who have contributed the least to climate change – disproportionately.

“Just this week the Philippines experienced its sixth super typhoon in a month, impacting millions of people. With global leaders, powerholders and some of the world’s most prominent companies gathering at COP29 this week, it is crystal clear that the world’s wealthiest nations must step up and agree on an ambitious new goal for collective climate finance to assist those bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, the cost of which is skyrocketing, from billions to trillions each year.

“We very much welcome the news overnight that Australia has pledged $50 million towards loss and damage, but this must be part of broader action that meets the scale and speed of the crisis.

“We all have an obligation to make sure that we do not pass on the escalating impacts of climate change to low-income countries or future generations,” she said.