Page - 22 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

22 R.Mechler et al. AndesnestledjustbelowthePalcacochaglacial lake.Globalwarminghasledtodan- gerous increases in the lake’svolume, increasing the riskofaglacial iceavalanche. Suchanavalanchewouldcauseanoutburstfloodfromthelakepotentiallyleadingto massivedestructionand lossof life.Asaprecedent, in1941anoutburstfloodkilled more than5,000people inHuaraz. SaúlLucianoLliuya’s climate lawsuit, brought forwardwithsupport fromtheGermanNGOGermanwatchin2016against theGer- manenergycompanyRWE,seekssupport fromthecompanytomakeacontribution to riskmeasures that avoid suchaglacial lakeflood, proportional to the company’s share in historicalCO2 emissions (about 0.5%overall). The case, dismissed in the first instance, has since been accepted by a higher regional court inGermany after anappeal, and isnow(mid2018) in themidstof theevidentiary stage. Much of the L&D debate has focused on climate risk insurance as a possible responsemechanism.ThispolicyresponseisexploredbyJoAnneLinnerooth-Bayer, SwenjaSurminski, LaurensM.Bouwer, IlanNoyandReinhardMechler in Insur- ance asaResponse to LossandDamage?Thechapter reflectson recent evidence andquestionswhetherinsuranceinstrumentscanservethepreventionandcure inten- tionsof theWIMandtheParisAgreement, in termsof reducingclimate-relatedrisk andproviding an equitable response toL&Dfromweather extremes in developing countries. The chapter lays out the forms and functions of insurance for climate- related extremes and emphasises the substantial benefits aswell as the substantial costs of bothmicro-insurance programs and regional insurance pools for provid- ingpost-disaster relief and reconstruction.Notwithstanding theactual andpotential benefits,theauthorsfindthatabsentsignificantinterventionintheirdesignandimple- mentation, insurancemechanismsascurrently implemented,will likely fall shortof fully serving the preventive and curative aspirations of developing country parties to theWIM.Theauthorsemphasise the importanceofburden-sharing, as insurance isgenerally loadedwithanexpenseandriskmargin inaddition to theprofitmargin forcommercial insurance.Thechapter,whileadvisingcautionabout relying largely onmarket solutions toprovide insurance for fulfilling thepreventionandcureaspi- rations, thus emphasises the criticality of international and public intervention in climate risk insuranceprovision. Technologyplays a critical role in copingwith climate impacts and risks so that adaptation limits are not further breached.Yet, vulnerable communities dispropor- tionally impactedbyclimatechange,oftencannotbenefit fromexisting technology. Those engaging in the L&Ddebate have only very recently sought dialoguewith discussionsontechnology,suchasundertheUNFCCC.ThechapterTechnologyfor ClimateJustice:AReportingFrameworkfor LossandDamage aspartofKey GlobalAgreementsbyMarcvandenHombergandColinMcQuistanexamineshow technology can shape limits to adaptation andhow international reportingon tech- nology (in)justice as part of keyglobal agreementsmayhelp. The authors develop a technology-reporting frameworkwith components of access, use and innovation, which isconsequentlyappliedvia theexampleof transboundaryearlywarningsys- temsdeployed inSouthAsia.Theyfind that forvulnerable countriesonlya limited setofstate-of-the-arttechnologiesisavailable,andtherealityofcapacityandfunding gapsmeansonly thebareminimum, largelycopycat typesof technology, isutilised.