Climate-vulnerable countries plan to set up national funds to help them tackle losses and damage caused by extreme weather and rising seas, which will collect money from different sources including wealthy governments, business, insurance and aid.

The finance facilities will work with communities to prepare them to deal with worsening climate change impacts, said Ritu Bharadwaj, climate researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), a London-based think tank.

One key way to reduce losses in places prone to floods or storms is to strengthen early warning systems and provide upfront funding so that local people can take measures to protect themselves before a disaster strikes, she said.

"If a flood or drought is expected to occur in a certain area, they will be provided with support even before the crisis occurs," said Bharadwaj.

Climate "loss and damage" includes not just harm to people, their homes and infrastructure from disasters but also forced displacement from slower effects such as sea level rise, as well as losses of cultural heritage and livelihoods.

At last November`s COP27 UN climate summit, countries reached a breakthrough agreement - after years of resistance from rich nations - to set up a global funding mechanism for loss and damage, though the details are still being worked out.

In Dhaka this week, a group of the world`s poorest countries joined forces with small island developing states to seek global finance for loss and damage, and work out how to use it.

The first six to take part in the initiative are Bangladesh, Nepal, Senegal, Malawi, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.

Earlier this month, the Pacific island state of Vanuatu was struck by twin cyclones in a matter of days.

These frontline countries will assess the climate risks they face, and identify and address gaps in how they support people hit by loss and damage, IIED executive director Tom Mitchell said.

SLOW UN PROGRESS

UN chief António Guterres told the Human Rights Council in late February that nearly half of the world`s population - 3.5 billion people - already live in "climate hotspots".

"These vast areas are fast becoming human rights disaster zones where floods, droughts and storms mean people are 15 times more likely to die of climate impacts," he added in a speech.

Today, the costs of the loss and damage resulting from such disasters are largely borne by ordinary people, said Saleemul Huq, director of the Dhaka-based International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), a partner in the new alliance.

For example, rural families in Bangladesh are estimated to be spending about $2 billion a year to prevent and repair climate damage, according to a 2021 study by IIED, the UN Development Programme and Britain`s Kingston University.