Adopting a Human Rights-Based Approach to Design the Loss and Damage Fund for Climate Change

Authors

Eugene Cheigh
Varsha Iyengar

Abstract

In 2022, the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ended with a significant achievement: the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund (Fund), aiming to assist countries vulnerable to the climate crisis, mostly developing countries. The United Nations Transitional Committee is tasked with designing the Fund’s operational framework. However, there remains a lack of clarity on how to mobilize finances to the Fund addressing the loss and damage caused by climate change. This Article aims to provide initial insights into the Fund’s operation from a remedial perspective. Rather than centering the discussion on framing a state responsibility of developed countries based on legal principles, this Article argues for a shift in focus toward understanding the human rights of the persons in countries vulnerable to climate-related disasters. By analyzing the possible legal principles underlying the Fund, this Article demonstrates that each principle has potential and limitations in drawing fund contributions from developed countries, making it difficult to rely solely on any one of them. Ultimately, this Article highlights the human rights-based approach as the most effective legal and political rationale for mobilizing finances to the Fund.

Recommended Citation

Eugene Cheigh & Varsha Iyengar, Adopting a Human Rights-Based Approach to Design the Loss and Damage Fund for Climate Change, 52 Denv. J. Int'l L. & Pol'y 161 (Spring 2024).