COP28 Opens With Climate Disaster Fund Commitments From UAE, US, UK, Japan and Germany

On the first day of COP28 in Dubai, countries agreed to a set of provisions expanding contributions to a disaster relief fund reserved for developing countries bearing the worst effects of climate change.

The early financial commitments are as follows: $100 million from host country United Arab Emirates (UAE), $100 million from Germany, $51 million from the United Kingdom, $17.5 million from the United States and $10 million from Japan. The funding builds upon a framework agreed to at COP27 in 2022 in Egypt.

The deal is a "positive signal of momentum to the world and to our work here in Dubai," the summit's organizer, Sultan Al-Jaber said in a statement Thursday.

The terms agreed to on Thursday are still limited both in terms of total financial commitments and long-term scope.

Low-income countries have called for total sums exceeding $100 billion to be committed to financing climate preparedness and energy transition projects. The commitments made on Thursday are less than $300 million, in total, though countries still have until Dec. 12 to announce additional pledges.

The commitments made also have no replenishment clause, effectively leaving future climate disaster commitments to the volition of individual countries deemed more responsible for global carbon emissions.

"The responsibility now lies with affluent nations to meet their financial obligations in a manner proportionate to their role in the climate crisis," Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, told Reuters.

But other experts still view the development as a positive sign for the rest of the conference.

"This is a decision to establish the fund that they agreed they would try to establish last year. I think it will be a good momentum boost for the rest of the negotiations," Alex Scott, an analyst at energy consultancy EG3, told CNBC.

Countries are meeting until Dec. 12 in Dubai to discuss an assortment of the world's most pressing climate and energy dilemmas, including whether to triple investment in renewable technologies and how to manage the wind-down of oil and gas production.

US Vice President Kamala Harris announced her attendance at the summit just on Monday, after President Joe Biden declined to attend.

Pope Francis, who is not in attendance at the summit due to illness, released the following statement from the Vatican X (formerly Twitter) account Thursday: "May participants in #COP28 be strategists who focus on the common good and the future of their children, rather than the vested interests of certain countries or businesses. May they demonstrate the nobility of politics and not its shame."