loss and

damage

What is it?

Los and Damage goes beyond the limits of climate adaptation and are the footprint of global north irresponsibility. Damage and loss originate in the residual risk of climate impacts that people cannot cope with or adapt to, causing irreparable damage or irreversible loss.

Losses are negative impacts in relation to which repair or restoration is impossible”, while damages are considered “negative impacts in relation to which repair or restoration is possible.” It addresses both economic and non-economic elements, such as cultures, traditions, languages, and even being forced to leave home to save life

 

Responsibility:

Loss and damage disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations and violates human rights. The most vulnerable communities are the least responsible for climate change, but they must face its consequences alone due to the irresponsibility of global north countries. The large carbon emitters are responsible for loss and damage, but at the same time have been responsible for blocking discussions and financing mechanisms in the past three decades. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) does not offer a funded or systematic response to this problem despite the efforts of the Global South.

Compensation:

Big public and private carbon emitters have a common but differentiated responsibility regarding loss and damage. Communities under vulnerable conditions have a right to compensation for the damage suffered. Affected people have the right to claim compensation and legal responsibility for the transboundary environmental damage that carbon-intensive economic models have generated. However, this right to have irreparable loss and damage rectified is actively denied in the UNFCCC by paragraph 51. Para51 is a tool the global north uses to help avoid responsibility for the climate crisis.