Your Excellency Sameh Shoukry,

We hope this finds you well.

The Loss and Damage Youth Coalition (LDYC) is an alliance of youth from the global North and South who have come together to demand action on addressing Loss and Damage caused by climate change. Our alliance is made up of more than 150 members from 40+ countries. We envision a world where the impacts of loss and damage are addressed in an equitable way, a world where developed countries take responsibility for their outsize contribution to the climate crisis by treating loss and damage with a sense of urgency and a world where we honour the rights of future generations to a safe climate.

The recent IPCC report on “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” has clearly outlined that the climate crisis has already caused substantial damages and irreversible losses to the people and the planet. Approximately 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in areas that are highly vulnerable to climate change limiting the progress of mitigation and adaptation efforts. It has also escalated humanitarian crises disproportionately affecting the poor countries in the Global south. Unless urgent measures are taken to limit global warming to 1.5℃, adaptation will no longer be possible in many parts of the world, and both economic and non-economic loss and damage will increase in magnitude, particularly for the most vulnerable on the frontlines of climate change. Given these dire predictions, we as young people share a deep concern for the present and future of the planet.

Poor communities in the developing countries are already suffering devastation from the impacts of the climate crisis. For far too long, efforts to reduce emissions and scale up adaptation have been utterly inadequate exceeding people’s ability to adapt. Therefore, loss and damage is now part of the reality of climate change and must be addressed. This year vulnerable communities worldwide have already experienced a dire impacts of climate change. Tropical storm Ana wreaked havoc in Malawi, causing flooding, destruction, and many fatalities. In total 995,072 people were affected, 46 people lost their lives, and 206 people were injured. Cyclone Batsirai struck Madagascar in February of this year, killing 120 people, destroying over 124,000 homes, and displacing an additional 30,000 people. In April 2022, heavy rainfall hit two provinces in South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape killing 443 people, with over 40,000 reported missing and more than 40,000 people been displaced. The floods also destroyed or damaged 4,000 homes .

As young people inheriting the hotter world, we are worried about our present as well as the communities around the world suffering from the havoc of climate-induced losses and damages, with little to no coordinated support available to respond and rebuild in the face of the crisis. We have no choice left but to stand up and speak for climate and social justice for all. We demand an end to the vicious cycle of loss and damage with high emitting countries drastically reducing their emissions to achieve the 1.5°C targets and providing reparations to the most affected with adequate climate finance, capacity building, knowledge, and technology transfer.
The 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow clearly showed that most Parties wanted the topic of Loss and Damage to get significant attention inside and outside the negotiation topic. COP 27 presidency must lead to continue impactful discussions on it.

As COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh draws closer, we have a unique opportunity to shape the agenda of the conference in a way that ensures to serve and respond to the needs of the most vulnerable developing countries. COP on the African continent should give countries in the region a much-needed boost on many fronts, particularly on Loss and Damage. Those issues are particularly important to Africa and other vulnerable developing countries, which have been disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change yet contributed least to it.

We, the youths of the world call upon the COP27 presidency to make the following commitments:

1. Urgent need of the finance to address Loss and Damage:

The Glasgow Dialogue on funding arrangements for Loss and Damage was a compromised outcome of COP 26, following a proposal by G77 and China for a dedicated finance facility for L&D under the UNFCCC which developed Parties rejected, and was not established. It is critical that the dialogue not be another talk shop which delays substantive outcomes on new and additional finance for L&D, or a repeat of the Suva Expert Dialogue, which took place in 2018 and resulted in no concrete outcomes. The results of the dialogue must therefore be linked to a concrete outcome at COP 27, and pave the way for the operationalisation of a finance facility for loss and damage under the UNFCCC. The first Glasgow Dialogue, taking place under the Subsidiary Body for Implementation in June 2022, will set the tone for subsequent dialogues. Therefore it is crucial that it is seen as a legitimate process by relevant stakeholders and Parties. The dialogue should be organized in an inclusive, transparent and participatory manner that includes youth, civil society and relevant stakeholders, particularly those from communities experiencing adverse loss and damage. It must build on previous discussions and not simply repeat them. For the dialogues to be meaningful, their outcomes must be linked to decisions under both the COP and CMA.

We have already lost valuable time in mobilising finance for Loss and Damage and there must be a decision at COP 27 to establish an L&D finance facility.

2. Santiago Network for Loss and Damage operationalization

Climate-induced loss and damage is a reality of our generation. It requires an immediate and timely response. The Santiago Network for Loss and Damage (SNLD) was established under the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage (WIM) at COP 25 to catalyse efforts of OBNEs and to provide technical assistance to vulnerable developing countries. As per COP 26, decision 19/CMA.3 para 9 agrees on the functions of the SNLD, nevertheless, there is a need for a robust operationalization of the SNLD that is party-driven and able to catalyze action on the ground. This should be done by unlocking the finance needed, strengthening to address the knowledge gap, and capacity building requirements for the developing countries, vulnerable countries, and frontline communities facing climate change impact.

There shouldn’t be duplication of already existing mechanisms, such as the WIM, or the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN). We demand that the SNLD must be operational at COP 27 at the scale that meets the needs and demands of developing countries while allowing a transfer of knowledge to scale action on the ground by taking into account the full spectrum of climate change impacts. We also envision the provision the technical assistance through the SNLD and the associated finance needs to make it carried out effectively.

3. Loss and Damage Need Assessments

The SNLD should assist countries, particularly developing countries, in identifying and communicating technical assistance and associated finance needs priorities, including Loss and Damage Needs Assessments (LDNAs). This should be done through the Loss and Damage contact points and relevant stakeholders. This could help to amplify the need for action and support to address loss and damage on a large enough scale to meet the needs on the ground. The LDNAs should be the common baseline for each country to be able to communicate its needs to address loss and damage.

4. Loss and Damage as a permanent agenda item

While we agree that Loss and Damage is an urgent and highly important issue, and while it has its own international mechanism in the UNFCCC, it doesn’t formally appear on the agenda of the negotiations. We consider that not having L&D as an official permanent agenda, is a way of avoiding constructive discussions on the issue.

We demand that L&D become a permanent agenda item for all UNFCCC negotiations (in the SBs, COP and CMA) so that it does not fall off the list of priorities. That would be a major leap forward in serious discussions, ambitious initiatives and actions on the issue.

5. Youth Advisory Committee

The COPs, similar to the convention recognize the need to develop and implement education and public awareness programs, to foster access and promote public participation on the local and international levels on the matter related to climate change. In 2021, Parties recognised that activities under the Action Climate Empowerment are to be carried out under the workstreams of the UNFCCC process and in multiple sectors and strategies at the national levels; the priority is to coordinate action with the aim of continuing to build long-term strategies, intergenerational partnerships that bring together different expertise to accelerate climate action. Youth demand an intersectional approach to youth inclusion in environmental governance, acknowledging that the climate crisis affects some communities and social groups disproportionately, and recognizing that the climate crisis is a broader sociopolitical crisis that necessitates systemic and radical action.

We demand the establishment of a Youth Advisory Committee on Loss and Damage which will formulate a clear non-tokenistic approach to youth action in addressing climate change impacts and their participation in the decision making process on the national and international levels. Global youth holds the answer and the key to tangible hope in addressing climate change impacts, hence our inclusion and involvement as an active stakeholder will help build a climate-resilient community for all.

6. The Global Stocktake

The Global stocktake (GST) is a tool to help analyze and check the climate action within the Paris Agreement. 2022 is the year for the first GST, and it should be able to provide a critical overview of countries' commitments if they meet the collective goals in a way that promotes intergenerational justice, equity, social, gender, and environmental integrity, and the right to a future; leaving no one behind.

We demand that the GST be open for an assessment of information that will allow understanding the full scope of gaps and capacity to help countries mobilise efforts (technical assistance and finance) to address loss and damage. The SNLD should be linked to the GST to facilitate the communication of effort in the implementation of the SNLD functions.

7. Meet the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition

As a global coalition with a clear vision of how to achieve climate justice, we always value active dialogue, meetings, partnerships and collaboration with all actors. On the road to COP 27 which is not only an African COP but also a COP for global solidarity, we request a meeting with the COP 27 Presidency. The meeting will serve to help the coalition explain the gaps and our demands from COP 27 and also how we as youths can support the COP 27 presidency to deliver a successful COP for all. Today climate inaction and apathy of the global process is doing injustice to our planet affecting those who did less contribution exponentially. We can all take the path toward a shared hope today.

Sincerely,
Loss and Damage Youth Coalition