COLOMBO — Veteran environmental activist Hemantha Withanage of Sri Lankan NGO the Center for Environmental Justice has been a regular presence at United Nations climate conferences for years, repeatedly calling for compensation for countries in the Global South severely impacted by climate change-related disasters. At each of these conferences of the parties, or COPs, Withanage and like-minded activists have pressed wealthy, high-emitting nations to accept responsibility for the damage caused by human-induced climate change to establish a fund to cover what’s known as loss and damage. These long-standing demands turned deeply personal this year. Sri Lanka is now preparing to become one of the first countries to seek assistance from the newly established Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah in late November. The cyclone killed at least 650 people, left around 200 missing, and triggered widespread destruction across the island. “I never imagined that my own country would be among the first applicants to the fund,” Withanage said. Climate activists who long campaigned for the creation of a loss and damage fund are pushing for increased financial contributions to support countries facing the impacts of climate change. Image courtesy of Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD). Assessment on physical damage A report by the World Bank Group’s Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) puts the direct physical damages from the cyclone at $4.1 billion, equivalent to about 4% of Sri Lanka’s GDP. According to the report, infrastructure including roads,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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