Loss and Damage

Loss and damage refers to the unavoidable impacts of global heating that are beyond countries’ adaptation AdaptationPrecautionary and timely measures taken to address existing or potential impacts of the climate disasterRead on اقرأ المزيد capabilities, including extreme weather events, such as flash floods Flash FloodsFloods caused by rapidly rising water levels, often as a result of short, high-intensity rainstorms or the failure of dams.…Read on اقرأ المزيد , and slow-onset events, such as sea level rise Sea Level RiseThe two main reasons for sea level rise are thermal expansion of the ocean (the increase in water volume due…Read on اقرأ المزيد and desertification DesertificationThe process of land degradation by which fertile lands loses productivity because of droughts, deforestation, human activities, among other reasons.…Read on اقرأ المزيد .

The term encompasses economic aspects such as damage to crops or infrastructure, as well as non-economic losses such as biodiversity loss Biodiversity LossThe reduction or extinction of species in a certain habitat. Biodiversity loss poses a great threat to the survival of…Read on اقرأ المزيد . The exact amount is hard to quantify, but it is estimated that the economic costs of loss and damage in developing countries will reach USD 1-1.8 trillion per year by 2050, a factor 10-20 higher than the currently unmet 100 billion USD climate finance goal.

Loss and damage is an important topic in international climate negotiations. The issue highlights the dynamics of climate injustice Climate InjusticeClimate disasters impact different peoples differently. The people suffering the most from the impacts of the climate disaster are mostly those…Read on اقرأ المزيد . On the one hand, vulnerable countries consider loss and damage a priority in climate negotiations. On the other hand, Annex I countries (responsible for 79 percent of historical carbon emissions) have strongly opposed interpreting loss and damage to imply any legal or moral responsibility.

The Paris Agreement Paris AgreementAn agreement reached at COP21 in Paris in 2015 with a set of targets, most notably keeping global heating at 1.5…Read on اقرأ المزيد is a case in point. Article 8 acknowledges “the importance of averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change”.  However, upon the insistence of the United States who threatened to veto the Paris Agreement otherwise, the agreement decision text states that article 8 does not “provide a basis for any liability or compensation”.