Catriona Flesher

Job title:

PhD researcher

Area of work:

Loss and damage.

What are the big issues that COP29 needs to address? What are your hopes for the negotiations?

COP29 needs to secure concrete financing commitments for the Loss and Damage Fund (L&DF), creating the groundwork for the Fund to have real-world impacts in supporting climate-vulnerable countries in 2025. Negotiations about the L&DF should focus on the importance of grant, debt relief, and solidarity-based payments, rather than expanding the role of the private sector in the L&DF.

Alongside all of this, at the heart of COP29 should be a commitment to push towards the phase-out of fossil fuels.

What’s your message for world leaders at COP29?

Show leadership, cooperation, and put the interests of the world’s most vulnerable communities at the centre of COP29.