Ahead of COP30: FRLD Board adopts key decisions on $250M initial allocation

The Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) concluded its seventh board meeting in Manila yesterday with key decisions about the $250M initial allocation.

"There is now a clearer timeline on how soon we can access the fund," JL ALgo, national coordinator of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas told GMA News Online, saying it could be "as early as middle of the 2026." 

Algo is among the active observers of the three-day meeting held at the Conrad Hotel in Manila from October 7-10.

The $250M initial allocation of the Fund for Loss or Damage — also known as the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM) — is something of a pilot program of the FRLD. "It serves as an interim guide for how the fund for responding to loss and damage operates while its long-term policies and procedures are being developed," the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said on social media. 

BIM was established in April 2025 during the board's 5th meeting in Barbados.

Fast forward to six months later at the board's 7th meeting in Manila this time, they approved four "operational pillars" — project cycle, funding criteria and eligibility, interim accreditation arrangements and access modalities — paving "the way for the launch of the first call for funding requests at COP30," it said on LinkedIn.

COP30 will take place in Belem, Brazil in November.

"This means developing countries only have roughly 6 months to submit their proposals," Algo said, adding there are a total of 11 steps in the funding cycle, with each cycle having its own time line.

Developing countries like the Philippines can apply for grants in the range of $5-20M, ensuring the $250M amount is spread and shared by various nations that need the money. 

Loss and Damage is the third pillar of climate action, with mitigation and adaptation being the first two.

FRLD was established at COP27 in Egypt in 2022 — more than 30 years since such a finance mechanism was first proposed.

Since its operationalization at COP28 in Dubai a year later, developed countries have pledged some $768.40M, but only $397.74M have materialized in cash.

"Climate impacts are estimated to cost at least $894B annually by 2030," Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) coordinator Lidy Nacpil said in the statement, adding it was a conservative estimate.

"It doesn't account for lost lives, culture, and ecosystems," she said. "In truth, rich countries should be paying a total of at least $1 trillion per year to the FRLD," Nacpil said.

"It is clearly not enough," Algo adds.

He highlighted that Loss and Damage "needs to be a unique and innovative mechanism," which means non-economic loss and damage like culture and mental health are considered eligible for grant applications.

Raising the funds is among the board's responsibilities, and at the meeting, they agreed "to build a strategy for the strategy to mobilize funds," Algo said.

The Philippines secured a seat at the Loss and Damage board in December 2023, and in July 2024, it was elected to host the board. At COP29 held in Baku last November 2024, the Philippines formally signed the agreement to do so. — GMA Integrated News