Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development Call for input on “Climate Justice: Loss and Damage”

The document advocates for rooting climate loss and damage responses in international human rights law, emphasizing the right to remedy. It argues that the World Bank is unfit to lead the Loss and Damage Fund due to its continued fossil fuel investments and failure to provide reparations for project-related harms. The author recommends that the Loss and Damage Fund establish a 'firewall' from World Bank policies, implement independent grievance mechanisms, and prioritize grants-based finance over debt-creating loans, guided by the polluter pays principle.

• Climate change threatens a wide array of human rights, including the right to development and self-determination, and disproportionately affects marginalized groups such as women, Indigenous Peoples, and persons with disabilities.
• Effective remedy for climate harm requires a comprehensive approach to reparations including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition, the latter of which necessitates increased mitigation ambition and a phase-out of fossil fuels.
• The World Bank Group (WBG) is deemed unsuitable to lead the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) because it continues to finance fossil fuels—spending 14.8 billion USD since the Paris Agreement—and imposes austerity measures that hinder developing countries' climate resilience.
• Development finance institutions, specifically the IFC and MIGA, have failed to provide effective remedy for project-related harms, often focusing on internal policy improvements rather than remediating specific environmental and social damages to local communities.
• The operationalization of the UNFCCC Loss and Damage Fund requires a 'firewall' to ensure independence from World Bank policies, the creation of a dedicated independent grievance mechanism, and the implementation of robust social and environmental safeguards.
• Finance for loss and damage should be needs-based, primarily public, and grants-based to avoid exacerbating the debt crisis in the Global South, utilizing innovative sources like windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies.
• The document identifies specific hydropower projects funded by the World Bank that have caused harm to communities, including projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Chile, and Laos.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2024). Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development Call for input on “Climate Justice: Loss and Damage”. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CIEL_Submission-to-UN-Special-Rapporteur-on-the-Right-to-Development_Climate-Justice-and-Loss-and-Damage_April-2024.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development Call for input on “Climate Justice: Loss and Damage”. 2024. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CIEL_Submission-to-UN-Special-Rapporteur-on-the-Right-to-Development_Climate-Justice-and-Loss-and-Damage_April-2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development Call for input on “Climate Justice: Loss and Damage” |date=March 2024 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CIEL_Submission-to-UN-Special-Rapporteur-on-the-Right-to-Development_Climate-Justice-and-Loss-and-Damage_April-2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2024submission, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development Call for input on “Climate Justice: Loss and Damage”}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CIEL_Submission-to-UN-Special-Rapporteur-on-the-Right-to-Development_Climate-Justice-and-Loss-and-Damage_April-2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }