Page - 119 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

5 Attribution:HowIs ItRelevant forLoss… 119 5.2 Attribution in theContextofL&D:WhyIsAttribution aCritical Issue? 5.2.1 RecurringQuestions: IsThisReallyAbout AnthropogenicClimateChange? TheUNFCCChasamandate to address anthropogenic climate change (UN1992). Itsultimateobjectiveis to“achievestabilizationofgreenhousegasconcentrationsin the atmosphere at a level thatwould prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with theclimatesystem”(UN1992:4),andtherefore theoriginal focusofUNFCCC discussionswas onmitigation, or reducingGHGs.However, there has longbeen a recognition that someclimate change impacts cannotbeavoided (e.g.Meehl2005; Wigley 2005); and theUNFCCCnowhas frameworks andmechanisms to address climate change impacts in termsof adaptation (UNFCCC2011) andmore recently L&D(UNFCCC2013,2015; seealso introductorychapterbyMechler et al. 2018). In seeking to address the impacts of anthropogenic climate change, the bound- ariesof theUNFCCC’smandatebecomelessclear.Efforts tohelppeoplecopewith climatechange includerisk reduction,e.g.byreducingvulnerabilityormoregener- allybyenhancingadaptivecapacity, and improvingdisaster responseand recovery. These activities are already important ambitions for institutions which focus on development,disaster riskmanagement,andhumanitarianaid.Anobviousquestion istherefore:whatisdistinctaboutadaptationand/orL&D?HowshouldtheUNFCCC interactwithUNDP (theUNDevelopment Programme),UNISDR (theUNOffice forDisasterRiskReduction), and awhole host of otherUNagencies and interna- tionalorganisations?Whichactivitiesarespecific toclimatechange?1 In thecaseof L&D,theterm—“lossesanddamages”—hasbeenusedindisaster riskreductionfor manyyears.2 Losses anddamages fromnatural disasters have occurred andwould continuetooccurwithoutclimatechange.So,whichlossesanddamagesarerelevant for theUNFCCC?Whatfurthereffort isneededtoaddress thenewand/oradditional lossesanddamageswhichwill result fromclimatechange? Thesequestionsaboutinstitutionalmandatesandresponsibilitiesleadtoquestions aboutattribution:aboutwhichlossesanddamagescanbeattributedtoanthropogenic climate change. It is not easy to find conclusive scientific answers, partly because theseattributionquestionsaremotivatedandposeddifferently to researchquestions in scientific studies (Otto et al. 2016), and partly due to the complexity of isolat- 1Similar questions were raised bymany of the stakeholders we interviewed (see Box 5.2), for exampleonesaid:“That’safundamentalquestion—amIfightingclimatechangeorpoverty?”,and one interviewee described the challenge inUNFCCCL&Ddiscussions to “draw the distinction about what’s considered adaptation and L&D, and some of the humanitarian andDRR issues”, explaining “we had a very long discussion in the committeemeeting just to discusswhether the humanitarianassistancecanbecounted for climatefinance”. 2Asone intervieweehighlighted (seeBox5.2), the “use of this phrase in this very policy context isverydifferent fromuseof thephrase in thedisaster riskmanagementcommunity,where they’re lookingatL&Dfromall events”.