Ibrahima Cheikh Diong,director-designate,The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage
This is a key step towards responding to loss and damage by bringing finance to millions of people in developing countries on the frontlines of climate change
WASHINGTON: The board of The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage(FRLD) to help countries ravaged by climate-driven disasters named Senegalese finance specialist Ibrahima Cheikh Diong as its first director, for a four-year term beginning November 1, 2024. the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change announced on Saturday.
This is a key step towards responding to loss and damage by bringing finance to millions of people in developing countries on the frontlines of climate change.
A Senegalese and American national, Diong brings over three decades of global experience in climate change, finance, and development. He will provide strategic leadership and oversight of the Fund’s Secretariat and assist the Board in delivering on the Fund’s mandate to provide financial support to vulnerable countries hardest hit by climate impacts.
The FRLD Board also approved all the key documentation that will allow the World Bank to act as interim trustee and host of the Fund’s Secretariat.
Jean-Christophe Donnellier, FRLD Co-Chair, said: “With this appointment, the Fund is taking a critical step towards helping countries most affected by climate change. I warmly congratulate Ibrahima and look forward to working closely with him.”
Ibrahima Cheikh Diong said,“: “I am honored to take on this role at such a pivotal time when the climate crisis is proving to be an existential threat to lives and livelihoods, particularly of the most vulnerable communities in developing countries. The Fund for responding to Loss and Damage will make a significant difference to those disproportionately affected, and I take this responsibility with humility and a full commitment to serve. I look forward to working with the Board, our partners and stakeholders to provide crucial support to low-income developing countries most affected by climate change.”
The selection of Diong, a dual U.S. citizen, marks a major milestone in the operationalization of the new World Bank-administered fund, whose creation in 2022 was a breakthrough for developing country negotiators at United Nations climate talks, overcoming years of resistance from wealthy nations.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Now with the Philippines recently selected as the home of the fund and Diong appointed as director, the fund can begin turning the $800 million pledged to it at last year’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai into “tangible funding ready for disbursement,” according to the presidency of the next round of climate talks starting in November in Baku, Azerbaijan, known as COP29. COP29’s president will call on countries to contribute more money.
CONTEXT
Loss and damage had long been a contentious issue in the U.N. climate talks, with less-developed countries calling for a new fund that specifically assists countries for the catastrophic losses they’ve incurred due to rising seas and turbo-charged storms and wealthier nations concerned this could become a form of “compensation” for the impact of their share of greenhouse gas emissions.