Oxford Climate Policy has made a submission on the Climate Solidarity Alliance (CSA) proposal to the Baku to Belém Roadmap. It has become abundantly clear that Loss & Damage (L&D) due to the adverse impacts of climate change must be addressed now. This is particularly the case for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) who are among the most vulnerable to L&D, some of which have already implemented domestic L&D response measures.
The proposed CSA is a voluntary partnership between countries that wish to support these national efforts as well as the multilateral activities of the UNFCCC/Paris Agreement Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD). While the CSA is meant to be open to all countries, there could also be regional cooperation between partners. This Note being to sketch how such a collaboration could work for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The proposed CSA is a multinational partnership aimed at providing innovative financial support to respond to L&D, in particular for the most vulnerable countries and communities. It is based on two key elements:
a. All partners that are deemed eligible to receive support must have a domestic Climate Solidarity Trust Fund, with a L&D window.
b. A specific Solidarity Bonus Mechanism (SBM) used to distribute solidarity payments between CSA partners (thus creating an incentive for joining the CSA), and beyond (through the FRLD).
Some CARICOM members already have domestic funds that fulfil (a) and are thus ‘CSA-ready’. For example, Antigua and Barbuda has a Climate Resilience and Development Fund, while Barbados has a Resilience and Regeneration Fund.
To explain the workings of the proposed SBM, consider the following GRULAC collaboration: Antigua and Barbuda offers to make a (totally voluntary) contribution of EC$ 2 million to the FRLD. Brazil could in return offer to pay-back this contribution with an additional solidarity bonus directly to Antigua and Barbuda’s Climate Resilience and Development Fund.
CARICOM could provide a platform for such SBM ‘solidarity exchanges’ with its members. Indeed, the CARICOM Secretariat could set up a ‘CSA Readiness Programme’ (say with the support from the FRLD) not only for itself (to set up such a solidarity exchange platform) but for its members to set up national Climate Solidarity Trust Funds to become CSA-ready.
