The 8th meeting of the Board (B8) of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) took place in Livingstone, Zambia, between April 22–24, 2026. This was the first meeting of the Board since the FRLD launched a call for funding requests under its start up phase—the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM). It was also the first meeting since the outgoing Co-Chairs Richard Sherman of South Africa (non-Annex I Parties) and Jean-Christophe Donnellier of France (Annex I Parties) handed over to the new FRLD Co-Chairs—Camila Minerva Rodriguez Tavarez of the Dominican Republic and Georg Børsting of Norway.
The agenda for B8 included work to further operationalise the BIM and consideration of the proposal to establish a Country Support System (CSS) under the FRLD. It also included updates on the work of the FRLD’s Secretariat and Co-Chairs and on the development of the Fund’s long-term resource mobilization strategy (RMS). When the gavel fell on B8, key outcomes included:
Operationalizing the BIM: With the deadline for BIM funding requests set for 15 June and the Board expected to start taking decisions on requests at its 9th meeting on July 8–10 (B9), this was a critical agenda item for B8.
Funding requests to date: Under this agenda item, we heard the first report back from the FRLD Secretariat on the funding request pipeline for the BIM. As of April 3, 2026,ten BIM funding requests have been received with a combined total ask of USD 165.9 million. These requests came from: Bangladesh, Mozambique, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Somalia, Haiti, Jamaica, India, Nigeria, and Yemen. Of the ten requests, five had been marked incomplete and 5 had either undergone conformity and technical review or were in the process of being reviewed. The FRLD Secretariat also stated that as many as 100 funding requests were expected ahead of the June 15 deadline. The FRLD Secretariat also confirmed that developing countries only need to have submitted their initial requests before the deadline—rather than completing the conformity and technical review—for them to be considered.
BIM assessment methodology: Despite the Board's intention to start adopting funding proposals at B9, the Board was unable to adopt the proposed assessment methodology for BIM funding requests—a decision intended to guide the FRLD Secretariat in submitting funding for consideration by the Board. Instead, the first batch of funding requests will come to the Board on the basis of decision B.7/D.4 paragraph (c) (see page 11 here). Key elements of the relevant paragraph include:
Direct access to national governments: When the FRLD launched the call for BIM funding requests direct budget support (DBS) through national governments was included as an access modality in the funding request template with the understanding that it was still under development. This was necessary, as at its seventh meeting (B7) the Board had been unable to put in place the modalities and a risk management framework needed for the World Bank—the interim host of the FRLD’s Secretariat—to enable DBS. This risked the BIM not being able to test a key access modality mandated in the FRLD’s governing instruments. The key issue was the functional equivalency assessment of the standards and safeguards of national ministries, which is required by the World Bank in order to allow them to directly access the FRLD. This involves the policies, systems and procedures of national ministries being assessed to ensure that they achieve outcomes comparable to multilateral development banks’ standards and safeguards, while taking into account the institutional, legal and operational contexts in which countries and entities function. At B7, the Board requested the Secretariat to develop for consideration and adoption by the Board at B8 modalities and the risk management framework needed to operationalize DBS. The Board also established an ad-hoc risk committee to guide the Secretariat in this work. At B8, the Board was able to adopt modalities and a risk management framework for DBS, a key decision which will enable developing countries to make DBS funding requests. However, due to divergence among members of the risk committee, the committee needed to continue its work during B8, and as a result the final modalities and the risk management framework have not yet been made publicly available.
BIM results management: The Board was not able to adopt a results management framework (RMF) for the BIM at B8 despite a new proposal from the FRLD Secretariat to take an innovative approach that would enable developing countries that will receive FRLD funding to develop their own indicators. This proposal included a much simplified approach to the RMF in which developing countries would be supported by the FRLD Secretariat to develop bottom-up country driven thematic/sectorial indicators to report on funded activities only. Although all sub-indicators related to themes and sectors were taken out from the updated proposal, indicators on key enablers were retained in response to positive feedback from the Board. The indicators on key enablers cover: 1). Enhanced access to L&D finance; 2). Strengthened national responses and capacities; and 3). and enhanced coherence and complementarity. At the close of this agenda item, the Board was able to take a decision that will see a revised RMF developed by the FRLD Secretariat for consideration by the Board at B9. The Board also invited its members to provide inputs before June 01.
Oversight fees: The Board adopted a policy on oversight fees for the BIM and set aside USD 20 million to cover these fees. This will ensure that all of the USD 250 million allocated to the BIM will be spent on responding to loss and damage (L&D).
Country Support System: The Board established a CSS under the BIM to help developing countries develop funding requests, assess their L&D needs, and prepare to undertake projects. The adopted decision sees the Executive Director of the FRLD given the authority to make decisions on CSS requests and allocates USD 7.5 million a year to the CSS with a cap of USD 250,000 per country. This will provide valuable support to developing countries to ensure they can access the FRLD and build their national capacities to respond to L&D.
Filling the Fund: The Board took a decision on the next steps for the development of the draft resource mobilization strategy (RMS) based on a two stage approach. This will be informed by the views of Board members expressed at B8 and the RMS framing paper prepared by the Secretariat of the FRLD. Although the draft decision initially included an indication of what each stage would involve, the Board had divergent views—with several developing country Board members making clear that the first stage should include the first replenishment of the Fund, not just encouraging new contributions. Therefore, articulation of what the two stages would involve was not included in the adopted decision. With just USD 822.06 million pledged to the FRLD and contributions paid so far amounting to just USD 448.64 million, a robust RMS is critical to ensuring the FRLD can meet the scale of the L&D needs of developing countries.
Dates and venues of future meetings: The Board decided that its 11th meeting will take place in Nepal from March 17–19, 2027, and that the 12th and 13th meetings will both take place in the Philippines (the host of the FRLD Board) from July 28–30 and October 6–8, 2027, respectively.
In the lead-up to B9, consultations with Board members are expected on the RMS. With the deadline for BIM funding requests fast approaching, the FRLD Secretariat is expected to simultaneously continue to undertake outreach and provide support to countries wishing to make funding requests while delivering the draft papers for B9.
B9 will be a critical milestone for the FRLD, as the Board turns its attention to funding proposals for the first time. While consideration of the RMS and policies on active observers and consultative forums are key to ensuring that the Fund is filled and accountable.
Our Global Negotiations Support (GNS) initiative provides technical support and bespoke capacity-building for Party representatives and other actors involved in global negotiation and policy processes, including under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).
Our GNS experts and fellows have been closely involved in the establishment and operationalisation of the FRLD. You can find out about the key areas of support we provide here. You can also find out about our work related to the FRLD via our Knowledge Hub.
The documents for B8 can be found here (note that the compendium of decisions has still not been published at the time of writing but it will be posted here). The webcasts for each of the three days of B8 can be found here.
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The 8th meeting of the Board (B8) of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) took place in Livingstone, Zambia, between April 22–24, 2026. This was the first meeting of the Board since the FRLD launched a call for funding requests under its start up phase—the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM). It was also the first meeting since the outgoing Co-Chairs Richard Sherman of South Africa (non-Annex I Parties) and Jean-Christophe Donnellier of France (Annex I Parties) handed over to the new FRLD Co-Chairs—Camila Minerva Rodriguez Tavarez of the Dominican Republic and Georg Børsting of Norway.
The agenda for B8 included work to further operationalise the BIM and consideration of the proposal to establish a Country Support System (CSS) under the FRLD. It also included updates on the work of the FRLD’s Secretariat and Co-Chairs and on the development of the Fund’s long-term resource mobilization strategy (RMS). When the gavel fell on B8, key outcomes included:
Operationalizing the BIM: With the deadline for BIM funding requests set for 15 June and the Board expected to start taking decisions on requests at its 9th meeting on July 8–10 (B9), this was a critical agenda item for B8.
Funding requests to date: Under this agenda item, we heard the first report back from the FRLD Secretariat on the funding request pipeline for the BIM. As of April 3, 2026,ten BIM funding requests have been received with a combined total ask of USD 165.9 million. These requests came from: Bangladesh, Mozambique, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Somalia, Haiti, Jamaica, India, Nigeria, and Yemen. Of the ten requests, five had been marked incomplete and 5 had either undergone conformity and technical review or were in the process of being reviewed. The FRLD Secretariat also stated that as many as 100 funding requests were expected ahead of the June 15 deadline. The FRLD Secretariat also confirmed that developing countries only need to have submitted their initial requests before the deadline—rather than completing the conformity and technical review—for them to be considered.
BIM assessment methodology: Despite the Board's intention to start adopting funding proposals at B9, the Board was unable to adopt the proposed assessment methodology for BIM funding requests—a decision intended to guide the FRLD Secretariat in submitting funding for consideration by the Board. Instead, the first batch of funding requests will come to the Board on the basis of decision B.7/D.4 paragraph (c) (see page 11 here). Key elements of the relevant paragraph include:
Direct access to national governments: When the FRLD launched the call for BIM funding requests direct budget support (DBS) through national governments was included as an access modality in the funding request template with the understanding that it was still under development. This was necessary, as at its seventh meeting (B7) the Board had been unable to put in place the modalities and a risk management framework needed for the World Bank—the interim host of the FRLD’s Secretariat—to enable DBS. This risked the BIM not being able to test a key access modality mandated in the FRLD’s governing instruments. The key issue was the functional equivalency assessment of the standards and safeguards of national ministries, which is required by the World Bank in order to allow them to directly access the FRLD. This involves the policies, systems and procedures of national ministries being assessed to ensure that they achieve outcomes comparable to multilateral development banks’ standards and safeguards, while taking into account the institutional, legal and operational contexts in which countries and entities function. At B7, the Board requested the Secretariat to develop for consideration and adoption by the Board at B8 modalities and the risk management framework needed to operationalize DBS. The Board also established an ad-hoc risk committee to guide the Secretariat in this work. At B8, the Board was able to adopt modalities and a risk management framework for DBS, a key decision which will enable developing countries to make DBS funding requests. However, due to divergence among members of the risk committee, the committee needed to continue its work during B8, and as a result the final modalities and the risk management framework have not yet been made publicly available.
BIM results management: The Board was not able to adopt a results management framework (RMF) for the BIM at B8 despite a new proposal from the FRLD Secretariat to take an innovative approach that would enable developing countries that will receive FRLD funding to develop their own indicators. This proposal included a much simplified approach to the RMF in which developing countries would be supported by the FRLD Secretariat to develop bottom-up country driven thematic/sectorial indicators to report on funded activities only. Although all sub-indicators related to themes and sectors were taken out from the updated proposal, indicators on key enablers were retained in response to positive feedback from the Board. The indicators on key enablers cover: 1). Enhanced access to L&D finance; 2). Strengthened national responses and capacities; and 3). and enhanced coherence and complementarity. At the close of this agenda item, the Board was able to take a decision that will see a revised RMF developed by the FRLD Secretariat for consideration by the Board at B9. The Board also invited its members to provide inputs before June 01.
Oversight fees: The Board adopted a policy on oversight fees for the BIM and set aside USD 20 million to cover these fees. This will ensure that all of the USD 250 million allocated to the BIM will be spent on responding to loss and damage (L&D).
Country Support System: The Board established a CSS under the BIM to help developing countries develop funding requests, assess their L&D needs, and prepare to undertake projects. The adopted decision sees the Executive Director of the FRLD given the authority to make decisions on CSS requests and allocates USD 7.5 million a year to the CSS with a cap of USD 250,000 per country. This will provide valuable support to developing countries to ensure they can access the FRLD and build their national capacities to respond to L&D.
Filling the Fund: The Board took a decision on the next steps for the development of the draft resource mobilization strategy (RMS) based on a two stage approach. This will be informed by the views of Board members expressed at B8 and the RMS framing paper prepared by the Secretariat of the FRLD. Although the draft decision initially included an indication of what each stage would involve, the Board had divergent views—with several developing country Board members making clear that the first stage should include the first replenishment of the Fund, not just encouraging new contributions. Therefore, articulation of what the two stages would involve was not included in the adopted decision. With just USD 822.06 million pledged to the FRLD and contributions paid so far amounting to just USD 448.64 million, a robust RMS is critical to ensuring the FRLD can meet the scale of the L&D needs of developing countries.
Dates and venues of future meetings: The Board decided that its 11th meeting will take place in Nepal from March 17–19, 2027, and that the 12th and 13th meetings will both take place in the Philippines (the host of the FRLD Board) from July 28–30 and October 6–8, 2027, respectively.
In the lead-up to B9, consultations with Board members are expected on the RMS. With the deadline for BIM funding requests fast approaching, the FRLD Secretariat is expected to simultaneously continue to undertake outreach and provide support to countries wishing to make funding requests while delivering the draft papers for B9.
B9 will be a critical milestone for the FRLD, as the Board turns its attention to funding proposals for the first time. While consideration of the RMS and policies on active observers and consultative forums are key to ensuring that the Fund is filled and accountable.
Our Global Negotiations Support (GNS) initiative provides technical support and bespoke capacity-building for Party representatives and other actors involved in global negotiation and policy processes, including under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).
Our GNS experts and fellows have been closely involved in the establishment and operationalisation of the FRLD. You can find out about the key areas of support we provide here. You can also find out about our work related to the FRLD via our Knowledge Hub.
The documents for B8 can be found here (note that the compendium of decisions has still not been published at the time of writing but it will be posted here). The webcasts for each of the three days of B8 can be found here.
