Page - 43 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

2 TheEthicalChallenges in theContextofClimateLossandDamage 43 Table2.1 Difference inpolicyprioritydependingonhowadaptationandL&Daredistinguished Beyondadaptation Risk tolerance 1stpolicy priority Implementing themost efficient and effectivemeasures todealwith unavoidedandunavoidableL&D Fosteringcollectivedecision-making andcapacitybuilding toassess climate risksasacceptable, tolerable or intolerable 2ndpolicy priority Involving localcommunities tosecure efficient andeffective implementation ofmeasures tobe taken Implementing thosemeasures understood tobemost efficient and effective todealwith the threats as evaluated moreeffectiveandefficient ifaccompaniedbycapacitybuildingandinvolvementof localcommunitiesindecisionsandmanagement(cf.Kaswan2016).Responsibilities for capacity building and fostering involvement thus also followas important con- cernswhen distributing responsibilities from the “beyond adaptation” perspective todistinguish adaptation andL&D.Even though the twoapproaches todistinguish adaptation andL&Dtend to set different priorities, the foci they suggest regarding themeasures tobe takencomplement eachother. This is so, because, regardless of the approach used to distinguish L&D from adaptation, in theendL&Dconcerns impacts thatare infactexpectedtomaterialise. Thus,L&Dmeasuresareexpected to respond toorminimise the socio-economicor humaneffectsof these impacts,but thesemeasuresarenotexpected toprevent these impactsaltogether. Inpractical terms, theyareexpected toe.g. enhance transforma- tivecapacities tocomprehensivelydealwithclimate-relatedrisksbeyondtraditional adaptationor toenhance trust and respectbetweencountries facingL&Dand those contributing to it.1 Consequently, preventing climate impacts frommaterialising is agoal only tobeascribed tomitigationandadaptation—butnot toL&Dmeasures. Thereareavarietyofmeasureswhichcanbeused toaddressL&Ddemandingdif- ferentkindsof responsibilities,whichweclassifybelow(Sects.2.3and2.4).Before it ispossibletocometothisclassification,however,wemustfirstbecleareraboutthe natureofmeasuresthatcanfallwithinthecategoryofL&D.Inthisregardandasdis- cussedbelow,paragraph52ofdecision1/CP.21accompanying theParis agreement becomeshighly relevant. 2.3 NeitherCompensationNorLiabilityUnder theUNFCCC When a damage or a loss occurs, it seems natural to ask who is liable for that harm and to demand repair or compensation of the damage or loss (Shue 1999, 2017). This is why themost natural way to investigate the ethical implications of 1Fordiscussionof this latterpoint seeCohen (2016),O’Neill (2017),ThompsonandOtto (2015).