For the first time, the Loss, and Damage Fund have money on the table, not just promises. The real test is whether Pakistan can secure its share.

At COP30 in Belém, the long-awaited Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) finally moved from concept to operation. Its board approved the Barbados Implementation Modalities and opened a first call for funding requests worth roughly USD 250 million for 2025–26. Developing countries now have a six-month window, beginning mid-December, to submit proposals, typically in the USD 5–20 million range, that will serve as the Fund’s experimental pilot phase. It is genuine progress, but painfully small when compared with the scale of climate devastation faced by countries like Pakistan.

Even this USD 250 million pool will not be equally available. Significant shares are earmarked for Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries, leaving perhaps USD 100–150 million effectively accessible to middle-income climate-vulnerable countries. Pakistan’s climate minister has said the government will submit proposals in the USD 10–20 million range, while criticising the Fund as overly bureaucratic and thinly resourced. His challenge, “put your money where your mouth is”, captures a wider frustration: global climate finance still struggles to match political rhetoric with actual cash.

Civil society groups cautiously welcomed the FRLD’s launch but warned that the Fund risks repeating the delays it was designed to solve. “For the Fund to truly deliver, it must be more responsive to communities,” argued Brandon Wu of ActionAid USA, urging faster and more locally-driven access instead of slow project cycles. FRLD co-chair........

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