This blog provides a short introduction to the third review of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM) at COP 30. For detailed messages and additional context, see our COP 30 key messages. 

The thirtieth Conference of the Parties (COP 30), seventh Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 7), and the sixty third session of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB 63) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025.

A key negotiating item on Loss and Damage is the third review of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM) and consideration of the 2024 and 2025 joint annual reports of the WIM’s Executive Committee (ExCom) and the Advisory Board of the Santiago Network. This blog explains what the WIM is, what will happen during the review, why it's important and what an ambitious outcome looks like. 

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What is the WIM?

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The WIM was established at COP 19 in Warsaw, Poland, in 2013. It has three functions: 1). Enhancing knowledge and understanding; 2). Strengthening dialogue, coordination, coherence and synergies; and; 3). Enhancing action and support, including finance, technology and capacity building to address loss and damage. 

The implementation of these functions is guided by an Executive Committee (ExCom), which has so far established five thematic Expert Groups in an advisory role to help execute its work. These groups cover: 1). Slow onset events; 2). Non-economic losses; 3). Comprehensive risk management; 4). Human Mobility including displacement; and; 5). Action and support. The effective implementation of the functions of the WIM is also a core function of the Santiago Network for averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage (Santiago Network).

What has happened so far on the third WIM review?

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The third review of the WIM was scheduled to take place at COP 29 / CMA 6, in Baku, Azerbaijan in November, 2024. It was to be based upon the terms of reference agreed in June 2024 at the 60th Meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB 60). Also scheduled to take place was the consideration of the first joint annual report (2024) of the ExCom and the Santiago Network. Given the overlapping issues across these agenda items, Parties (countries) agreed during their initial discussions at COP 29 to discuss these items together. They would decide later whether to have separate decisions for each agenda item.

However, Parties were unable to achieve consensus at COP 29. The outcome was a procedural conclusion where rule 16 of the UNFCCC’s draft rules of procedure was applied to defer negotiations to the 62nd Meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB 62) in June 2025. 

At SB 62 Parties continued negotiations and concluded the session by adopting an informal note that would form the foundation of further negotiations in Belém on the WIM review. Parties were clear that none of the text was agreed and everything remained open to further negotiation. Regarding the 2024 joint annual report, Parties agreed on a short decision text which was forwarded to COP 30 for Parties to consider and adopt as a separate decision to the review.

This means that negotiations will continue in Belém on the third review of the WIM and Parties will consider both the 2024 and 2025 joint annual reports. With so much overlap between this work, it is likely that Parties will discuss these agenda items together.

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What will happen during the WIM review at COP 30?

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In regards to how the review will take place, the terms of reference indicate that the objective of the review is for Parties to consider, amongst other things, progress in implementing the WIM’s functions, evaluate its performance and achievements and consider the long-term vision of the mechanism. This includes scrutinising the activities conducted by the WIM through its ExCom, thematic Expert Groups and the Santiago Network. Parties will consider the ways in which the WIM may be enhanced and strengthened to promote implementation of approaches to address loss and damage.

The scope of the review is to take into account broader work on addressing loss and damage under and outside the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, vulnerable populations, as well as the evolving needs and priorities of developing countries. The focus includes examining collaboration, coordination, partnerships and coherence and synergies of work under the WIM in relation to the rapidly evolving architecture of Loss and Damage bodies and stakeholders under and outside the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement. This includes considering how the Loss and Damage Funding Arrangements, including the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), the Santiago Network and the ExCom might become more effective and efficient and be enhanced by considering barriers and gaps, challenges and opportunities, good practices and lessons learned.

The terms of reference also provide information about the inputs and sources of information for the review. This leads by saying that Parties will be guided by the best available science, Indigenous People’s knowledge and the knowledge systems of local communities. This is an important element, with the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on Climate Change emphasising that policy-making cannot be separated from science. The inputs to the review include a background paper on the status of work, activities and outputs under the WIM, a summary of views and inputs submitted by Parties and non-Party stakeholders compiled by the UNFCCC secretariat, an event held during SB 61, and several other relevant sources of information.

Why is the WIM review important?

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The WIM review is an opportunity to strengthen the Loss and Damage support landscape. When considering what progress can be made through the third review of the WIM, it is important to reflect on what has been achieved in previous reviews, to build on these advancements and consider what ambitious and innovative ideas can continue to drive work on Loss and Damage forward. The first two reviews on the WIM saw critical gains with agreement on mandates to advance the work on action and support, particularly finance. 

The first review which took place in 2016 at COP 22 recommended that countries establish a Loss and Damage contact point and that a technical paper be prepared on sources of financial support for loss and damage and the modalities for accessing such support. The following year at COP 23, it was agreed this paper would be informed by the Suva Expert Dialogue. At COP 27, these two outputs were recognised in the decision establishing the Loss and Damage Funding Arrangements, including the FRLD. 

During the second review, which took place in 2019 at COP 25, Parties recognised that the WIM function to enhance action and support including finance, technology and capacity-building needed attention. This was the rationale for establishing the Santiago Network  to catalyse technical assistance from a membership of organisations, bodies, networks and experts (OBNEs) for enhancing implementation alongside a request to the ExCom to establish the Action and Support Expert Group (ASEG). The ExCom and its thematic expert groups, in collaboration with others, were also requested to develop technical guides, foster public education, facilitate and enhance research, and develop and disseminate products to raise awareness of addressing loss and damage.

The WIM review is an opportunity to send political signals to push Loss and Damage institutions to be more effective and efficient, and for the WIM to improve its timeliness, relevance, visibility, coherence, complementarity, comprehensiveness, responsiveness and resourcing —and the delivery and usefulness of its products and outputs. This alongside significant scaling up of the work on Loss and Damage is needed to meet the urgency and enormity of the loss and damage already being caused by the climate crisis —recognising that the expected average Loss and Damage funding needs of developing countries are projected to be a staggering 395 [128–937] billion USD in 2025 alone.   

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What do we need to see at COP 30? 

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As the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, the Hon. Jotham Napat made clear in a video statement released on the first day of SB 62 in June —the WIM is not "finished" yet. The disappointing reality is that the third round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) are certain to fail to limit warming to the 1.5°C survival limit of the Paris Agreement as inadequate mitigation efforts persist. This alongside the persistent challenges in delivering adequate adaptation support to developing countries and the vulnerable communities within them will result in more loss and damage. The third review of the WIM must therefore pave the way for Loss and Damage response to rapidly reach the scale of the needs of developing countries —matching the speed and breadth of the impacts of the escalating climate crisis. 

Major outcomes of the review must include:

1. Establish a process to deliver an annual State of Loss and Damage Report that provides a global overview of what Loss and Damage support, including finance, technical assistance and capacity building that developing countries need, what support is currently available and what actions they are already taking. The report must also highlight best practices, solutions and policy advice on loss and damage in an accessible and user-friendly manner to enhance global response. This must capture the best available science and have balanced coverage across all regions and different country-contexts. At SB 62 it was proposed that the Santiago Network’s Advisory Board could develop the terms of reference for the report by its 6th meeting (late March 2026) and ask an OBNE or consortium of OBNEs to deliver it.
   
   
2. Support on quantifying and qualifying Loss and Damage needs and cost. Developing countries have asked for guidance on how to quantify (count numerically) and qualify (describe impacts not easily measured)  the economic (e.g. loss of infrastructure) and non-economic (e.g. loss of culture) costs of loss and damage to inform their funding and technical assistance requests and the development of national plans and response. The review should request the ExCom to develop a knowledge product that compiles methodologies for quantifying loss and damage needs and priorities.
   
   
3. A clear timeline for the ExCom to finalise the development of voluntary guidelines for Loss and Damage information to inform the preparation of the Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs). The voluntary guidelines should be completed by no later than SB 64 in June 2026. Parties requested this as an outcome of the Global Stocktake (GST) at COP 28 in Dubai in 2023, yet two years later they are still not complete. At its 23rd meeting, the ExCom adopted the annotated outline for the guidelines but no deadline was put in place to finalise them.
   
   
4. Voluntary guidelines on the inclusion of Loss and Damage in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Developing countries are asking for guidance on how to include Loss and Damage in their NDCs. Costed Loss and Damage commitments in NDCs are critically important to understand the scale of the Loss and Damage support needs of developing countries and to inform the Needs Determination Reports of the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF). These guidelines should be completed by COP 31 in 2026.
   
   
5. Strengthening the ExCom’s Action and Support Expert Group (ASEG) and enhancing complementarity and coherence. Strong guidance is needed to invigorate the expert group as it develops its new Plan of Action and revises its membership in light of the significant changes in the loss and damage landscape since the ASEG was established. A deadline should be put in place to do so no later than SB 64 in June 2026. The ASEG should develop a road map with clear and time-bound milestones for collaboration between the ExCom, Santiago Network and FRLD and lead the work on loss and damage qualification and quantification and assisting developing countries in better accessing technical assistance and finance, amongst other things.
   
   

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