Scotland must put its money where its mouth is and pay up to help global communities hit by the deadly effects of climate change, campaigners say.
Members of Scotland’s climate coalition are urging Scottish ministers to commit cash to compensate Global South countries which are suffering the biggest impacts of extreme weather caused by climate change.
The call came as MSPs prepared to debate international climate justice at Holyrood on Tuesday 27th October, and ahead of the UN’s COP31 international climate summit, which is being held next month in Turkiye.
At the same time, the UN-backed Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) is at risk of running out of money after it makes its very first payment to flood-stricken Nepal – if no more countries contribute.
Campaigners are urging the Scottish Government to “pay up” after stressing a commitment to international climate justice and the need to compensate the worst-hit countries – which are also some of the world’s poorest.
Scotland can help with contributions through the nation’s own Climate Justice Fund, including provision of loss and damage finance, and support for the FRLD.
Amanda Grimm, advocacy lead for Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, said:
“Disasters caused by climate change are devastating lives, undermining development and pushing the people least responsible for causing the problem ever deeper into poverty.
At the UN’s COP26 summit, held in Glasgow in 2021, then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made headlines by announcing that Scotland would be the first developed nation to commit funding to compensate poorer countries for loss and damage inflicted as a result of climate breakdown.
Now, five years on, the people in these vulnerable places are still suffering deadly floods, droughts, fires and heatwaves – and still not getting sufficient help to rebuild and protect their communities.
“It’s time now for Scotland and other countries that have burnt fossil fuels for decades – and continue to extract more – to pay up for the destruction now being visited on some of the world’s most vulnerable people.”
SCCS coalition members are working on the ground in some of these places, with first-hand experience of how people are suffering – lives, homes and livelihoods are being lost, critical infrastructure is being destroyed and famine and disease often result.
Lucy le Roux, Scottish parliamentary engagement officer for Quakers in Scotland and chair of SCCS’s International Climate Justice Group, said:
“This debate should send a clear message that Scotland stands for climate justice.
We need renewed commitment to cutting emissions at home, increased support for climate-vulnerable communities around the world, and fresh leadership on Loss and Damage ahead of COP31.”
Anne Callaghan, advocacy and campaigns officer for SCIAF (Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund), said:
“At COP31 in Turkiye, the Scottish Government should use its ground-breaking reputation on Loss and Damage to continue to make the case for a global fund that ensures communities on the frontline can access much-needed help directly.
SCIAF calls on the Scottish Government to use COP31 to increase its Climate Justice Fund, as it has done with its International Development Fund.
We also want to see it commit to mobilising other nations in relation to the global Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage.”
BACKGROUND
In a ground-breaking announcement during the opening week of COP26, the then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon declared that Scotland would be the first developed nation to pledge Loss and Damage finance. The Scottish Government allocated £1 million from its Climate Justice Fund to grant-fund a partnership with the Climate Justice Resilience Fund.
The board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) has convened an ‘extraordinary’ meeting to consider an urgent request for financial support from Nepal, following devastating floods triggered by an ice-and-rock avalanche in Bhotekoshi on 26 August 2026. The disaster caused an estimated £2 billion in economic loss and damage, with recovery and reconstruction expected to cost at least £3.5 billion.
A decision was made to provisionally set aside £16.2 million to be paid out from the fund.
20261022 Policy Updates for the FRLD Extraordinary Board Meeting.docx
FRLD as risk of running out of cash.
Loss and damage fund could run out of money next year
WHAT CAN SCOTLAND DO NOW?
There are two main ways that developed countries can correct this climate injustice:
1. Reduce emissions at home. While Scotland’s share of global emissions is relatively small, the collective impact of small nations reducing their emissions remains essential if global climate goals are to be achieved.
2. Provide International Climate Finance to support the most vulnerable countries and communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change, build resilience and repair damage after climate disasters. A just and peaceful world requires investment in tackling and adapting to climate change, at home and abroad. This is not only morally right; it is also in our nation’s self-interest, and it is required under international legal agreements such as the Paris Agreement.
