COP26: Nicola Sturgeon pledges £1m fund for climate ‘loss and damage’

The First Minister will make the announcement at a meeting in COP26’s Green Zone on Monday. Credit: PA

Nicola Sturgeon has pledged a £1 million fund to help developing countries deal with “loss and damage” from climate change, such as floods and wildfires.

The First Minister will make the announcement at a meeting in COP26’s Green Zone on Monday.

“We don’t have the resources of other western governments, but we can lead by example", she will say.



The money will come from the Scottish Government’s £6 million-a-year Climate Justice Fund, helping communities repair from and build resilience against climate-related events.

Ms Sturgeon is due to speak at a meeting of the Global Citizens Assembly on Monday.


The COP27 climate conference - what you need to know

What is COP27? When and where will it be?

Each year, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meets at what is called the Conference of the Parties (abbreviated as COP) to discuss the world's progress on climate change and how to tackle it.

COP27 is the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties summit which will be held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from November 6-18.

Who is going?

Leaders of the 197 countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - a treaty that came into force in 1994 - are invited to the summit.

These are some of the world leaders that will be attending COP27:

  • UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is attending the conference, after initially saying he wouldn't as he was too busy focusing on the economy within his first weeks in office.

  • US President Joe Biden and his experienced climate envoy, John Kerry, will appear at the talks.

  • France President Emmanuel Macron will also be among the heads of state from around the world staying in Egypt.

King Charles III will not be attending COP27, despite being a staunch advocate for the environment. The decision was made jointly by Buckingham Palace and former prime minister Liz Truss.

Elsewhere, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will not attend the talks just as they decided to do for COP26.

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What is it hoping to achieve?

1. Ensure full implementation of the Paris Agreement and putting negotiations into concrete actions - included within this is the target of limiting global warming to well below 2C.

2. Cementing progress on the critical workstreams of mitigation, adaptation, finance and loss and damage, while stepping up finance notably to tackle the impacts of climate change.

3. Enhancing the delivery of the principles of transparency and accountability throughout the UN Climate Change process.

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The First Minister will say: “Through our work on climate justice, Scotland continues to proudly support nations which – despite having done the least to cause climate change – are already suffering its impact.

“And so I’m pleased to announce that not only are we doubling our climate justice fund to £24 million – we’re also entering into a partnership with the Climate Justice Resilience Fund to support communities and address loss and damage, supported by this £1 million investment.

“I hope this will galvanise other organisations to support the partnership – and show world leaders that where small nations lead they can follow, by making similarly ambitious commitments during Cop26.”