On 27 February, on the sidelines of the 2026 World Sustainable Development Summit, which convened in New Delhi, India, from 25-27 February, Professor Benito Müller, Managing Director, Oxford Climate Policy, made a presentation during a panel on “The Climate Finance Imperative”. Moderated by Leena Nandan, Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the panel explored the mobilization of public, private, and innovative finance to bridge the adaptation gap and build resilience in vulnerable communities.
In his presentation, Professor Müller described efforts to establish a Climate Solidarity Alliance for loss and damage funding. He explained that 20 years ago, the idea of an international air passenger levy for adaptation was first proposed. In 2018, in Poznan at COP14, the Least Developed Countries submitted this proposal, but it did not fly. He explained that in 2024, Saleem Huq approached him, suggesting that the proposal for an air passenger levy be revisited and applied to loss and damage. However, instead of attempting this at the international level with a treaty, the creation of a Climate Solidarity Alliance for adaptation and loss and damage was suggested, whereby action could be taken now. He described efforts to get the proposed alliance up and running now, noting the possibility of South-South cooperation and that he has been in contact with the Brazilians. He suggested that loss and damage was fundamentally different that mitigation and adaptation, when one has a choice. With loss and damage, you have no choice: the buck stops with the government.
Other panelists included: Frauke Roeser, Founder and Managing Director, NewClimate Institute; Amit Prothi, Director General, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure; Anand Patwardhan, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland; Sujata Gupta, Asian Development Bank; Valerie Hickey, Group Global Director for Environment, The World Bank; Annapurna Vancheswaran, Sustainable Development Practitioner; Dipak Dasgupta, Distinguished Fellow, TERI; and Kanmani Chockalingam, Senior Fellow, McKinsey Global Institute.
