Climate finance will be a focus at COP31 in November 2026 after the Loss and Damage Fund’s board approved its first allocation: $20 million for Nepal following a deadly avalanche.

Key Takeaways

  • The fund’s board approved the Nepal allocation on October 22, with a condition that it set no precedent.
  • COP31 is scheduled for November 9–20 in Antalya, Turkey.
  • India faces a weak monsoon and drought declarations in five states ahead of the talks.

Climate finance decision for Nepal

Nepal requested $20 million from the fund after an ice and rock avalanche in August. Aarti Khosla, director of Climate Trends, wrote that the disaster killed nearly 1,500 people and left more than 5,000 missing.

The board approved the request nearly two months later, on October 22. The approval was the fund’s first allocation, though the available account does not say whether the money has been disbursed.

Khosla put Nepal’s estimated recovery and reconstruction costs at $4.8 billion. She wrote that the fund held about $350 million against $2.8 billion in pending requests.

India’s food and adaptation concerns

Agriculture and food security are on the COP31 agenda, and food is a priority for the Turkish presidency. The talks will also address adaptation finance, loss and damage, trade rules and a just transition.

Khosla wrote that India’s monsoon ended 12.6% below normal, its weakest since 2015, and that Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Rajasthan had declared drought. She said irrigation, sowing and food prices had been affected.

She also said India finances 83% of its mitigation and 98% of its adaptation domestically. Those figures frame the country’s interest in how international climate funding is allocated.

Next milestone

COP31 is scheduled to run from November 9 to 20 in Antalya.

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