Declaration of the Third African Regional Conference on Loss and Damage

Lilongwe, Malawi; March 22, 2024

 Preamble

The third Africa Regional Conference on Loss and Damage, aimed at providing a platform for African stakeholders to develop strategies for accelerating access to loss and damage funds took place at Lilongwe, Malawi, on March 20 -22, 2024.

The Conference was hosted by the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), Civil Society Network on Climate Change (CISONECC) and the Government of Malawi, in partnership with Trocaire, Oxfam, Concern Worldwide, Save the Children, Habitat for Humanity, Give Directly, CARE International, Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), ActionAid, Pelum Association and Christian Aid.

Aware of the first meeting of the Advisory Board of the Santiago Network held from 18 to 20 March 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland, and whose main agenda was to consider the technical report by the UNOPS-UNDRR on the cost-effectiveness, including a cost-benefit analysis of various locations around the world as options for the location of the head office of the Secretariat from a pool of potential locations;

Further aware that UNOPS-UNDRR strongly recommended Nairobi as the optimal location to host the Network based on their thorough analysis using scientifically-proven methodologies from a shortlist of various other locations such as Addis Ababa, Bonn and Geneva;

Gravely concerned that the Advisory Board blatantly and contemptuously ignored recommendations from UNOPS-UNDRR and selected a third candidate – Geneva –  that ranked third in the analysis;

Aggrieved that the hosting right for a Platform which embodies the struggles of the communities at the frontline of the climate crisis, and whose location should symbolise the very palpable rationale of tackling Loss and Damage has once again been unjustly snatched from a third country through a clandestinely nefarious process of manipulation, carrot-dangling and intimidation;

Conscious of the power imbalance in the Loss and Damage Fund’s Board  as currently constituted, with developed countries potentially using their monetary and material advantage to ostensibly render developing County representatives decorations in the Board;

Recalling the IPCC-ARC6 report that asserts that Africa will be impacted by climate change under all mitigation scenarios, setting a stage for agitation for accelerated adaptation and response measures on loss and damage actions to enable communities at the frontline of the crisis to cope with the impacts of climate change.

Further recalling the Adaptation Gap Report 2023 points to the inevitability of loss and damage as underfinancing, under-preparedness, inadequate investment and planning on climate adaptation continue to leave people exposed to the full force of climate impacts without any shield.

Sceptical of of World Bank’s constraining Policies, bureaucracy and transparency deficit, especially when administering a Fund expected to respond to emergencies;

Disappointed by paltry pledges of USD700 million to the Loss and Damage Fund, fatally insufficient to meet the recovery responses to a single episode of climate disaster such as that caused by Cyclone Freddy in Malawi estimated at USD900 million;

Declare as follows: Click here to Read more Lilongwe Declaration