Antigua and Barbuda has yet to receive any funding from the UN’s Loss and Damage Fund, despite mounting climate threats and the upcoming hurricane season.

Director General of Communications, Maurice Merchant, confirmed that while pledges have been made, the government is still awaiting disbursement.

“It’s a work in progress,” Merchant said. “Unfortunately, it takes a while before funds are secured.”

Established in 2023 to support climate-vulnerable countries, the Loss and Damage Fund had attracted US$741 million in pledges from 27 contributors by January 2025, according to the UN.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne, a leading voice for climate justice in small island developing states, has been vocal about the urgency of funding access.

In a recent UN address, he criticised the global financial system as “skewed, outdated and unjust,” adding that small states are being “shackled by debt we did not cause.”

So far, the response has yielded commitments but not cash.

Merchant noted that while financial transfers have yet to materialise, several countries have offered disaster response assistance should Antigua and Barbuda face future climate-related emergencies.