Additional financial, technical support imperative to tackle climate crisis: LDC Group

Kathmandu: The Group of 44 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) has stressed the need for additional financial, technical and capacity-building support for developing and vulnerable countries to address the crises induced by climate change.

The LDC Group adopted a declaration at a meeting of ministers and heads of delegation on climate change in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, calling for adequate, predictable, accessible and grant-based support for countries bearing the impacts of climate change.

Dr Maheshwor Dhakal, spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment, who is in Dili, said the declaration expressed deep sympathy and solidarity with the people of Nepal over the loss of lives and extensive damage to infrastructure caused by the recent glacier-rock avalanche and subsequent flooding in the Himalayas.

The declaration said the LDCs were deeply alarmed by the escalating climate crisis and its devastating impacts on lives, livelihoods, human health, communities and development gains, despite their limited contribution to the causes of climate change.

It called for ambitious and equitable climate action to protect vulnerable people and communities, alongside deep reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions in line with the 1.5°C temperature goal.

The LDC Group also called for greater international efforts to build resilience and substantially increase climate finance, technology transfer and capacity-building support to address the worsening climate crisis in vulnerable countries.

The declaration stressed the urgent need to significantly reduce global emissions this decade, accelerate the transition of energy systems, scale up adaptation finance and strengthen support for addressing loss and damage.

The Group called for urgent progress in implementing and delivering the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. It urged developed countries to take the lead in mobilising at least USD 300 billion annually by 2035, while working towards mobilising at least USD 1.3 trillion in climate finance each year.

The LDCs also called for increased collective provision of adaptation finance to accelerate the goal of tripling adaptation finance, targeting at least USD 120 billion well before 2035.

The Group urged developed countries to increase contributions to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), Green Climate Fund (GCF), Adaptation Fund and Global Environment Facility (GEF), citing a persistent gap between available climate finance and the resources required by vulnerable countries.

Noting that demand for support has far exceeded the resources available under the FRLD, the declaration called on COP31 to provide clear guidance on mobilising additional resources. It also called for a central ministerial-level dialogue on climate-induced migration, displacement and planned relocation, warning that the risks associated with these issues are increasing.

The LDC Group further called for technology transfer and capacity-building to be prioritised alongside financial support for adaptation and resilience.

It said adequate finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building are essential to strengthening resilient food and agricultural systems. The Group also stressed the need to expand women’s access—particularly that of grassroots women and those in vulnerable communities—to climate decision-making, finance, technology and resilient livelihoods, while mainstreaming gender-responsive approaches into climate action.

The Group said COP31 must deliver equitable, ambitious, inclusive and implementation-oriented outcomes that reflect the priorities, geographical realities, needs and special circumstances of LDCs.

The declaration concluded that the climate crisis should be addressed not merely as an environmental issue, but as a broader challenge directly linked to human life, health, food security, livelihoods, the economy and development.