Characterising loss and damage from climate change

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James, R., Otto, F., Parker, H., Boyd, E., Cornforth, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4379-9556, Mitchell, D. and Allen, M. (2014) Characterising loss and damage from climate change. Nature Climate Change, 4 (11). pp. 938-939. ISSN 1758-678X doi: 10.1038/nclimate2411

Abstract/Summary

Policy-makers are creating mechanisms to help developing countries cope with loss and damage from climate change, but the negotiations are largely neglecting scientific questions about what the impacts of climate change actually are. Mitigation efforts have failed to prevent the continued increase of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Adaptation is now unlikely to be sufficient to prevent negative impacts from current and future climate change1. In this context, vulnerable nations argue that existing frameworks to promote mitigation and adaptation are inadequate, and have called for a third international mechanism to deal with residual climate change impacts, or “loss and damage”2. In 2013, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) responded to these calls and established the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) to address loss and damage from the impacts of climate change in developing countries3. An interim Executive Committee of party representatives has been set up, and is currently drafting a two-year workplan comprising meetings, reports, and expert groups; and aiming to enhance knowledge and understanding of loss and damage, strengthen dialogue among stakeholders, and promote enhanced action and support. Issues identified as priorities for the WIM thus far include: how to deal with non-economic losses, such as loss of life, livelihood, and cultural heritage; and linkages between loss and damage and patterns of migration and displacement2. In all this, one fundamental issue still demands our attention: which losses and damages are relevant to the WIM? What counts as loss and damage from climate change?

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Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/37540
Identification Number/DOI	10.1038/nclimate2411
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Walker Institute Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Geography and Environmental Science Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > NCAS Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Nature Publishing Group
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Funders:	Natural Environment Research Council	The sponsoring bodies who contributed funding for the creation of this item. Example: NERC Example: The Royal Society of Chemistry A pick list of funders may appear as you type in the funder's name in full or as an acronym. Select a correct match to complete the field or type in a new entry in full. For new entries, the full name is preferred.
Projects:	Attributing impacts of external climate drivers on extreme weather in Africa Funded by: Natural Environment Research Council (NE/K005472/1 - £131,205) Local Lead (PI): Rosalind Cornforth Project Lead: Rosalind Jane Cornforth 30 June 2013 - 28 February 2017	Click Add to select your project (received at Reading) from an autocomplete list.

Deposit Details

Date Deposited:	06 Nov 2014 17:43	Date item deposited into CentAUR
Last Modified:	13 Feb 2025 02:22	Date item last modified

References

1. Dow, K., Berkhout, F. & Preston, B. L. Nature Climate Change 3, 305-307 (2013). 2. Huq, S., Roberts, E. & Fenton, A. Nature Climate Change 3, 947-949 (2013). 3. Decision 2/CP.19: Warsaw international mechanism for loss and damage associated with climate change impacts (UNFCCC, 2013); http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2013/cop19/eng/10a01.pdf#page=6. 4. A literature review on the topics in the context of thematic area 2 of the work programme on loss and damage: A range of approaches to address loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change (UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), FCCC/SBI/2012/INF.14. 2012); http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2012/sbi/eng/inf14.pdf. 5. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN, 1992); http://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/background_publications_htmlpdf/application/pdf/conveng.pdf. 6. Warner, K. & Geest, K. V. International Journal of Global Warming 5, 367-386 (2013). 7. Stott, P. A. & et al. in Climate science for serving society (eds Hurrell, J. W. & Asrar, G. R.) 307-337 (Springer, Dordrecht, Germany, 2013). 8. Peterson, T. C., Hoerling, M. P., Stott, P. A. & Herring, S. BAMS 94, S1-S74 (2013). 9. Peterson, T. C., Stott, P.A., Herring, S. BAMS 93, 1041-1067 (2012). 10. Hegerl, G., Zwiers, F. & Tebaldi, C. Environmental Research Letters 6, 044025 (2011). 11. Surminski, S. & Lopez, A. Climate and Development, 1-11 (2014). 12. Pall, P. et al. Nature 470, 382-385 (2011). 13. Kay, A., Crooks, S., Pall, P. & Stone, D. Journal of Hydrology 406, 97-112 (2011). 14. van Oldenborgh, G. J., van Urk, A. & Allen, M. BAMS 93, 1047-1049 (2012). 15. Christidis, N. et al. J. Clim. 26, 2756-2783 (2013). 16. Hoffmaister JP, Talakai M, Damptey P, Barbosa AS. Warsaw International Mechanism for loss and damage: Moving from polarizing discussions towards addressing the emerging challenges faced by developing countries. 2014; http://www.lossanddamage.net/4950. 17. Hulme, M., O'Neill, S. & Dessai, S. Science 334, 764-765 (2011).

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