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58 I.Wallimann-Helmeret al.
understoodasundeservedharmsdemandingredistributiontoevenoutunfairness.As
wehaveshown,eveningoutsuchunfairnessdemandsbeingable tospecify themea-
suresexclusivelyrelevant forL&Deitherdefinedasbeingbeyondadaptationand/or
as intolerable levelsof risks,wherecopingcapacitiesofcommunities arebreached.
However, regardlessof theappropriateframing, itbecomesessential tofosterappro-
priatedecision-makingstructuresandcapacitybuilding for those facing the risksof
L&D.Thesecapacitiessignificantlycontribute to theefficiencyandeffectivenessof
L&Dmeasures,measureswhich comprise a complex net of approaches including
comprehensive riskmanagement, riskfinanceschemesandcurativemechanisms.
Theadvantageofthealternativeframingofdistributivejusticeistohelpovercome
politicaldeadlockandpotentialconceptualconfusion.Notably,wedonotclaimcom-
pensatory justice tobe irrelevant fordifferentiating responsibilities forL&D.Much
ofourdeliberationsweremotivatedbyparagraph52ofdecision1/CP.21whichposits
thatArticle8of theParisAgreementdoesnotprovideanybasisforcompensationor
liability. From thiswe read that implementing support forL&Dbasedon compen-
satoryjusticemaybecurrentlypoliticallyunfeasible.However,political infeasibility
isnot tobemistakenwithmoralappropriateness.Wehavearguedthat theconditions
for compensatory justice to apply, i.e. no excusable ignorance and exceeding fair
sharesof emissions, potentially limit the applicationof compensatory claimsat the
individual level. Here, the difficulty in attributing L&D to anthropogenic climate
changeposesa furtherpractical challenge.
However,wealsoargued that theseconsiderationsmustbequalifiedat thecom-
munity levelofwholecountries:Nocountrycanbeexcusedanymore for ignorance
afterpublicationoftheIPCCreports,andtheemissionsofalargenumberofcountries
have been deemed to exceed fair shares onmultiple accounts. According to these
considerations,compensatoryjusticethusclearlybecomesrelevantandshoulddrive
actionofcountriesundertheUNFCCCfromamoralpointofview.Notably,itshould
driveincreasedmitigationambitionasitisclearthatsomeofthelossesduetoclimate
changeareirreplaceableandthoseaffectedcannotbemadewholeagain.Butaslong
ascompensationforL&Dcreatespoliticaldeadlockandinorder tosecurethat those
underthreatgetfullandnotonlypartialassistance,aframeworkbasedondistributive
justice toevenoutundeservedharmshouldbeconsidered relevant in implementing
practical approaches toL&Dand identifying responsibilities fordoingsoaswell.
Acknowledgements IvoWallimann-Helmerwould like to acknowledge generous support from
theSwissNational Science foundation,whichmade possible to extensivelywork on this chapter
during a very fruitful research visit at the School of Politics and International Relations of the
University CollegeDublin. He alsowants to thankAlexa Zellentin for her kind invitation. Kian
Mintz-Woo would like to acknowledge support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under
research grantW 1256-G15 (Doctoral Program on Climate Change—Uncertainties, Thresholds
andCopingStrategies).Wearegrateful forveryhelpfulcommentsonanearlierdraftsof thispaper
byBenoitMayer,LauraGarcĂa-Portela,SadhbhONeill, and theeditorsof thisvolume.
Loss and Damage from Climate Change
Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Title
- Loss and Damage from Climate Change
- Subtitle
- Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Authors
- Reinhard Mechler
- Laurens M. Bouwer
- Thomas Schinko
- Swenja Surminski
- JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer
- Publisher
- Springer Open
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-72026-5
- Size
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 580
- Keywords
- Environment, Climate change, Environmental law, Environmental policy, Risk management
- Categories
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima