'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.

Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, executive director of the fund responsible for climate loss and damage, speaks at Cop29. Photo: UN Capital Development Fund

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.

Cop29 – in pictures

Participants at the Cop29 venue in Baku, Azerbaijan. Reuters

Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the German Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development, speaks in the Germany pavilion. Getty Images

Nuclear power activists demonstrate. AP

Activists hold a protest calling on developed nations to provide financing. Reuters

An activist holds up a sign. Reuters

Conference participants arrive on day four. Getty Images

Another protest. Reuters

From left, Jorge Perez, Rolando Escobar, Miguel Vasquez and Esteban Cama at a session on Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon. AP

President Sheikh Mohamed attends the World Leaders Climate Action Summit at Cop29, in Azerbaijan's capital Baku. UAE Presidential Court

Sheikh Mohamed greets Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey. WAM

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Cop29. Bloomberg

Ding Xuexiang, China's first Vice Premier, at Cop29. Bloomberg

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at a plenary session at Cop29. AP

Sudan's military leader Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, at Cop29. Bloomberg

World leaders pose for a group photo at the Cop29 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Baku, Azerbaijan. AP

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, stands next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reuters

Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, addresses Cop29. Bloomberg

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev speaks during the Cop29 opening ceremony. Reuters

Rafael Grossi, director general of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at Cop29. Bloomberg

Activists demonstrate for climate justice and a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, on day one of Cop29. AP

Cop28 President Dr Sultan Al Jaber and Cop29 President Mukhtar Babayev at the official handover. AFP

Dr Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, delivers a speech during the opening of Cop29 in Baku. AFP

Mr Babayev speaks during the opening plenary session. AP

An installation depicting a beached whale by the Belgian art collective Captain Boomer on an embankment in Baku. EPA

The Turkey Solidarity Centre pavilion. Bloomberg

Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, speaks during the opening ceremony. EPA

People begin arriving for the start of Cop29 in Baku. Bloomberg

Dr Al Jaber at Cop29 with Moroccan climate researcher Cherif El Khalil. AP

A mosaic adorns a wall at the Cop29 venue, Baku Stadium, in the capital of Azerbaijan. Bloomberg

A woman tries out a VR headset at the tourism booth as the Cop29 UN climate summit gets under way in Baku, Azerbaijan. AP