Page - 23 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

1 Science forLossandDamage.FindingsandPropositions 23 Similartotheethicschapter,theauthorsthusarguethatmoreattentiontodistributive, compensatoryandproceduralclimatejusticeprinciples intermsofdistributingtech- nology,buildingcapacityandprovidingfinanceissorelyneededtowidentheaccess, useandinnovationofthetechnologyspectrumavailabletodevelopingcountries.The authors finally suggest to include technology for climate justice in theAdaptation Communications, andmaking reportingmandatoryonactual andexpected impacts ofL&Dmeasures. 1.5 FromFindings to Propositions for the Loss andDamage Debate The book chapters cover specific issues showing the wide variety of research on L&D,aswell as themany interconnections, sharedconcepts, tools andmethods. In this section,wealignsomeof thekeyfindingsandsuggestions formovingforward. We identify five key propositions that, aswe assert, hold potential for providing a roadmapfor further ‘grounding’ the so farhighlypoliticaldebate.Thepropositions areessentiallycross-cuttingandreflect thearchitectureof thebook in termsofcon- sideringinsightsfromthevarioussections(settingthestage,critical issues,methods andtools,cases,policyoptions).Thepropositionseachbuildonrelevantfindingsthat then informsuggestions for anactionable element tobe taken forwardby research, policyandpractice. Proposition 1 Riskmanagementisaneffectiveentrypoint foraligningperspectives anddebates.Framedcomprehensively, coupledwith climate justice considerations andlinkedtoestablishedriskmanagementpractice, itmayhelp to identifyadistinct policy space forLossandDamage. TheL&Ddebatehasbeenpolarisedbetween thoseadvocating forcompensation foractual lossesanddamages,andotherssuggestingsupportfortacklingfuturerisks by (further) employing disaster riskmanagement and climate insurance solutions. WhileL&DremainsapoliticalconceptdevelopedduringtheUNFCCCnegotiations, it has (someof) its technical roots in riskmanagement,which canbebuilt upon to identifyajointanddistinctpolicyspace(seechaptersbySchinkoetal.2018;Botzen et al. 2018;vandenHombergandMcQuistan2018). Risk management brings along established practices for dealing with extreme events andany trends therein, and thusmayprovideanoperational frameworkwith a tested set of methods and tools (see Bouwer 2018; Botzen et al. 2018). Yet, a broader perspective on climate risk research and policy appears sorely needed. In its 5thAssessmentReport (IPCC2014b), the IPCC laid the foundations for such a perspective by broadly defining climate-related risks and the potential (as well as limits) foradaptation tokeyrisks facedbygeographic regionsboth todayand in the future, characterisedbyscenariosof aggressiveorbusiness-as-usualmitigationand adaptation.This perspective requires to take into account non-economic losses and