Page - 58 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

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,LauraGarcía-Portela,SadhbhONeill, and theeditorsof thisvolume.