Liberia: Loss and Damage: Breaking Moments for People Suffering Climate Change Impacts

For 16 years, Veronica David and her family have lived in Kru Beach, West Point, surviving on daily sales from two video clubs and a food shop. But that changed in August 2023. The sea swallowed her businesses and a three-bedroom house.

“I was able to rescue my four children, but I lost everything in the water,” she said. 

Sea level rise caused by climate change is putting millions of residents in Liberia’s nine coastal counties out of their homes and destroying their properties. Veronica and others like her are left to seek refuge from friends, families, and humanitarian institutions. 

A 2010 UNDP report on climate change in Liberia said that since 1969, sea erosion has removed at least 250 meters of the coastline, representing an average loss of 6.6 meters per year. The sea continues to advance towards houses and other infrastructure nearby. 

“My pastor has been a great help to me. He was able to rent a room for me and my children where we stayed,” Veronica said.  

Last year at the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP28), world leaders agreed to finally operationalize the loss and damage fund to assist families like Veronica that have lost their homes to the sea.

The US$792 million pledged by big nations, which contribute about 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), is intended to help smaller countries that are vulnerable to climate change.

Of that total amount, The United Arab Emirates pledged US$100 million, followed by Germany, Italy, and France, which both committed US$108 million. The US pledged US$17.5 million, while Japan, the third largest economy behind the US and China, has offered US$10 million.

“This clear and strong recommendation to operationalize the loss and damage fund and funding arrangements paves the way for agreement at Cop28. Billions of people, lives, and livelihoods who are vulnerable to the effects of climate change depend upon the adoption of this recommended approach at Cop28.” DR. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President, COP28 UAE said. 

Other pledges include Denmark at US$50 million, Ireland and the EU both at US$27 million, Norway at US$25 million, Canada at less than US$12 million, and Slovenia at US$1.5 million.

Apart from coastal erosion that has put many Liberians out of their homes, widespread disruption to farming and fishing from erratic rainfall and higher temperatures are also impacts of climate change seen vividly in Liberia.

Thomas Tweh, Project Coordinator, Office of the West Point Township Commissioner, recalled that the sea in the 1990s and sea erosion presently were different.

“But our observation is that since 2014, the Ebola time, the sea has remained constant. It comes and does go back, and a large portion of the community has been taken away by the sea.”

According to him, more homes have been falling prey, and many have been made homeless. 

The Loss and Damage Fund is a breakthrough for so many people who have been impacted by climate change, but the big question that remains unanswered is how Liberia stands to benefit from the Fund.

Nathaniel Blama, former executive director of Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said Liberia will need to set up a National Climate Information System to present loss and damage information to access the fund.

“I hope the government and incoming government can work to set up a national climate information system that can be used to get real-time climate information that will make our case for accessing some of this fund anything short of that. I am sorry Liberia might not directly benefit from this fund,” Blama said.  

“For example, I grew up in Congo town. I know the coastline where we used to swim many years back has been taken by the sea. We know where houses were and all those houses are gone, but that is by eyesight, but to prove that it has to be done through modeling.”

“You have to have a climate information system in place that can send you back 20 years and you will see an image of 20 years ago and images of now and can now see the impact of climate change, the properties that have been damaged along the line and the impact of what the country has lost. You have to prove that scientifically; that’s the only way you can quantify the damage [and therefore] apply for the fund.”

According to him, Liberia does not have a national climate information system to attract funds. Setting up one should be a major priority. 

Apart from developmental challenges such as infrastructure, climate change is one of Liberia’s pressing issues. Coastal erosion, rising sea levels, and degraded ecosystems are posing threats to communities living in coastal areas. 

To protect Veronica and her neighbors from further sea encroachment, the government and UNDP launched a US$2.9 million Coastal Defense Project in 2010, titled, “Enhancing Resilience of Vulnerable Coastal Areas to Climate Change Risks in Liberia in 2010”, for coastal communities in Liberia

The project aimed to reduce the vulnerability of local communities and build resilience of socio-economic sectors to withstand the threats of climate change.

To further extend the project, in 2018, the Government of Liberia and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched phase two of the project, worth US$2 million, which saw the completion of a stretch of 500 meters of seawall along the shoreline of New Kru Town, home to over 20,000 people.

Funded by the Global Environment Facility, the project could not cover all the affected areas, and Liberian President George Weah instructed the Finance Ministry to provide the necessary funding to complete the construction of the retaining wall.

The project has ended, but coastal erosion persists, residents say. With coastal erosion effects, the loss and damage fund is a financial instrument set up by big polluters to help smaller countries.