'We can't fail them': Climate fund boss calls for billions to protect poor nations at Cop29

Ibrahima Cheikh Diong reminds governments, the private sector and philanthropy groups of the 'human face' of climate change

Developing countries are most at risk from the impact of climate change. EPA

The Fund for responding to Loss and Damage is open for business with new executive director Ibrahima Cheikh Diong hitting the ground running at Cop29 – meeting leaders, philanthropists and action groups.

The $700 million fund is tasked with supporting developing countries at risk from the effects of climate change, including extreme weather and slow onset events.

“It is very clear that the needs are in the billions, so therefore pledges are important. Keeping the pledges made is important, but converting the pledges into real money is equally important. My hope is that by the end of Cop, we will get more players to come in,” Mr Cheikh Diong told The National on the sidelines at the conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, which runs until November 22.

This will be no easy task as researchers sound the alarm that this year is on track to be the hottest on record and, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told participants at Cop29, “around the world, we’ve seen record rains and hurricanes, historic fires, and deadly droughts”.

In an interview with The National, Mr Cheikh Diong set out his thoughts on what has been dubbed the “finance Cop”, and what he hopes to achieve in his first year as head of the climate action fund.

“I always say there's a human face to climate change. The priority is millions of people whose life is dependent on what we do, we can't fail them,” he said.

“I think many were doubtful that within nine months, you can set up a board, have pledges, have an executive director, and fast-forward,” Mr Cheikh Diong added. “But here we are. We've done all of that and that's, in my view, a major achievement in the climate finance world.”

The fund was established at Cop27 and operationalised at Cop28 in Dubai, with pledges of $700 million made. However, this falls short of what action groups say is required to pay for the impact of climate change, which they say is in the trillions.

More to be done

Mr Cheikh Diong has been busy at the climate summit seeking to raise funds. Already a deal has been sealed with Sweden committing an additional $19 million, bringing the size of the fund to $719 million.

The executive director previously served as Special Representative of the President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa on environmental, social and governance, spending three decades in climate change, finance and development. He told The National that he hopes to leverage his experience in the private sector to bring more funds to the table.

“I came from the private sector, so you can rest assured I will reach out to people and find out what they have to offer to us,” he said. “There is a conscious decision made by the board and myself to foster innovations and creativity in the way we do business.”

The fund has a meeting lined up with the Gates Foundation on Thursday, with plans to meet more philanthropic groups in the coming days.

This week Mr Guterres hailed the fund as “a victory for developing countries, multilateralism, and justice” during a high-level dialogue that established co-ordination between funding mechanisms – with participation from The World Bank, Green Climate Fund, and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Mr Cheikh Diong told The National that collaboration and co-ordination are vital because the fund “can't do everything alone”. “We invite civil society to have their voice heard, because we believe in transparency and inclusiveness,” he added.

He said listening to all parties is critical to design a fund that is nimble and can implement financial support quickly in response to a disaster. He also said he hopes the fund will have already actioned finance where it is needed most before Cop30, due to be held in Brazil.

“Hopefully by then, we can talk about the impact we've had within a year, and that's, in my view, what matters most to the people we're trying to help,” he said.

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