Mr. Simon Murtagh:

I will pick up on three things Ireland can do, which we have been asked. I am glad there is a transcript because these issues are technical in nature. The first ask is to make a pledge to the loss of damage fund and to its actual finance, not just for its administration or operation. We want EU members and Ireland to do vocally.

Second, and more technically, is a dedicated loss and damage section in the global stocktake or GST. I have mentioned the high-level ministerial dialogue and that is on what we are calling the new collective quantified goal or NCQG. The third ask is that in that high-level ministerial dialogue, there should be strong language on loss and damage..

It is quite right to say that this an opportunity. Oxfam has called it a rare opportunity because we have now got a whole new section of finance which could be, and should be, much more effective and does not repeat the mistakes of the past. Last year, we did not send anyone to COP from this part of the world. This year, we will send Lyndsay Walsh, who is an Irish person who works for Oxfam International. In my view, she is one of the leading global experts on loss and damage. She wrote our submission on the issue. When we have talked about it, and when our director in Africa talked about it being locally led, that is not to repeat the mistakes of the past. We must ensure that the funding is accessible to local communities for their local environments and their livelihoods from the start and that those principles are enshrined, even through the World Bank. While we might have been against the World Bank being the host of it at the start, for once their conditions look quite positive. We must now nail that down and make sure that this is there from the start. There will be a board meeting at least in the first month of next year, so time is running out.

I will share Ms Walsh's submission to the loss and damage committee with this committee afterwards because it is quite practical. The submission asks people to make sure this finance is given in the form of grants and not loans, which is the biggest mistake that has been made in the past. Any finance must also be accessible. Right throughout our systems, we help local communities to make applications for climate finance because it is not reaching them. We have statistics that show the climate finance has only reached 2% or 1.5% of local communities on the ground. There are things like just helping communities to understand the process of making applications and that kind of literacy area around applications.

These opaque processes and big multilateral funds have taken all the value out of climate finance in the past. Therefore, when we are talking about locally-led delivery of loss and damage then that is what we are talking about. It must be accessible and add value and it is not just a principle but a practical thing.