COP25: Developing countries must ‘stay strong’ in loss and damage negotiations

Madrid, 11 December 2019 – ActionAid raises concerns that midway through the second week of UN climate talks, proposals for supporting survivors of climate disasters are being watered down. 

Harjeet Singh, ActionAid’s global lead on climate change, who has been following the loss and damage negotiations for more than a decade, says: 

“Developing countries must stay strong in negotiations about finance for loss and damage. Outside these talks, this is about providing support for people in the Global South whose lives are already being devastated by a climate emergency they did the least to cause. 

“The rich countries responsible for climate change, particularly the US, Australia and Japan, are using every opportunity to water down proposals and protect the interests of polluting industries.”

ActionAid spokespeople at COP25:
 
Harjeet Singh is ActionAid's global lead on climate change. He specialises in the impacts of climate change on the Global South, including migration and urgent need for climate finance. He is a member of United Nations' Technical Expert Group on Comprehensive Risk Management under Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage. He is on the board of the Climate Action Network (CAN) international and also coordinates its working group on adaptation and loss & damage. Harjeet will be analysing outcomes from the climate talks in Madrid. He speaks English and Hindi. Follow him on Twitter @harjeet11.

Teresa Anderson is ActionAid’s climate policy coordinator. She leads ActionAid’s climate policy work on land, food and agriculture. She coordinates the Climate Action Network (CAN) working group on agriculture. She will be analysing outcomes from the agriculture negotiations at COP25. Follow her on Twitter @1TeresaAnderson. 

Brandon Wu is ActionAid USA’s director of policy and campaigns. He specialises in climate finance for developing countries, fairness and equity in the global climate regime, and energy democracy in the Global South. Brandon recently completed a two-year term on the governing board of the Green Climate Fund. Follow him on Twitter @brandoncwu. 
 
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ActionAid’s spokespeople are available for comment, interviews and briefings from the climate negotiations in Madrid. For more information visit www.actionaid.org/climatejusticenow 

Media contact: Jenna Pudelek, jenna.pudelek@actionaid.org, +4477595642990.