Germanwatch

Loss and damage: when adaptation and risk management reach their limits

As extreme weather events like tropical cyclones are likely to increase in quantity and/or severity with ongoing climate change, it is extremely important that more emphasis be put on the issue of loss and damage. The term loss and damage refers to the “adverse impacts of human-induced climate change that cannot be avoided by mitigation or adaptation, or that will not be avoided in the future by adaptation due to insufficient resources”.⁹⁷ A main distinction can be made between economic and non-economic loss and damage. Climate change hazards cause loss and damage of, for example, resources, goods and services that are commonly traded in markets. Examples include buildings and services such as telecommunications and power. But those people who are affected also experience the loss of material and non-material items that cannot be traded. Loss and damage can be caused by extreme weather events as described in this Index, but in order to form a complete picture of the climate risk, slow-onset processes (rises in sea levels, glacier melting, etc.) also need to be included.⁹⁸

In the international climate policy process, the topic of loss and damage is highly controversial. Particularly the question of how financing to deal with such losses and damages should be provided has so far remained unanswered (see Chapter 3).

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