Africa Expands Climate Fund 2025

Tuesday 9th December 2025

By inAfrika Newsroom

A new loss and damage fund 2025 Africa window will open on 15 December, offering climate-vulnerable countries six months to submit project proposals. Yet African negotiators warn that current pledges fall far short of the continent’s needs as extreme weather costs mount.

The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, created under the UN climate talks, has allocated US$250 million in initial grants for its first “bridging implementation modality” (BIM) call. Governments can apply until mid-June 2026, with the first approvals expected from July next year.

However, rich nations have so far transferred only about US$348 million of the roughly US$789 million pledged, according to developing-country board members. That raises fears that the loss and damage fund 2025 Africa window will be oversubscribed and underfunded from the start, limiting support for flood-hit communities, drought losses and collapsing coastal infrastructure.

African governments have argued for years that loss and damage costs already run into tens of billions of dollars per year. A recent expert report estimates that developing countries may need US$200–400 billion annually by 2030 to manage climate-related destruction, a scale far beyond current commitments.

Meanwhile, the Fund’s board has yet to create a dedicated window for cities and regions. Local authorities worry that national bottlenecks could delay help for frontline communities that face sea-level rise, heatwaves and cyclones.

Next steps for loss and damage fund 2025 Africa

From 15 December, African states must move quickly to prepare robust proposals that match the Fund’s criteria. Technical teams are being urged to work with the Santiago Network and other support bodies to design projects that combine rapid relief with longer-term resilience, such as rebuilding climate-resilient roads, clinics and early-warning systems.

At the same time, campaigners plan to keep pressure on donor countries to convert pledges into cash before the loss and damage fund 2025 Africa pipeline opens at full speed. They also want future board meetings to consider simplified access rules for least developed countries and small island states.

Why it matters

For African countries, the first call marks a turning point: loss and damage has finally moved from a negotiating slogan to a funded mechanism. Yet the scale remains symbolic compared to the real losses seen in dried-up harvests, washed-away bridges and displaced families.

If early projects succeed, they could prove the case for a much larger funding stream. If they stall, the gap between climate promises and lived reality in Africa will widen again.