Ms Emer Griffin:

We see loss and damages as a critical issue at COP. We expect it to be an important agenda item this year. We know from the IPCC report that the impacts of climate are here and now. Ireland has always championed voices of SIDS and LDCs and will continue to try to do that in these negotiations. We hear their calls for greater support for adaptation and the majority of Ireland's climate finance has focused on adaptation supports. This can be helpful in terms of the slow onset impacts of loss and damage. There are also more immediate impacts climate change can have and we provide support through the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction, including up to €35 million in bilateral funding in 2019. That work is ongoing to support loss and damage.

In terms of the negotiations at COP, there needs to be greater emphasis on effective co-ordination on this issue. Many partners are working to address it through humanitarian and development responses. It is about bringing these people together. At COP25, a decision was made for a Santiago network. The call is to operationalise this. We will support and listen to the voices of the countries that want to do this slowly and ensure the right system and network is set up. We see this as the way forward to have a decision at COP to operationalise the network and work through that over the next year in terms of giving technical assistance to loss and damage.