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5 Attribution:HowIs ItRelevant forLoss… 145
change on losses and damages, and how this compareswith other drivers of risk.
There are uncertainties, and the level of evidence available is not even between
countries, regions,orbetweendifferentclimatechange impacts. Itmay thereforebe
challenging to use attribution science for the kind of applicationswhich aremost
frequently suggested.Notably itmight bechallenging touseattribution science for
somekindofglobalcompensationmechanism,or toallocate funding toaddresscli-
mate change impacts. Such systemsmight benefit frombeing informed by global
estimatesofattributablechangesandevidence for theemergenceofclimatechange
impactsindifferentregions,ratherthanbeinginformedbyattributionstudiesforspe-
cific events or specific losses.However, aswell as thedifficult political and ethical
questions aboutwho should pay for losses and damages, andwho deserves sup-
port to address losses and damages, there are also fundamental practical questions
abouthow tohelppeoplepreparefor,andrecover from,climatechange impactsand
losses anddamages.Toaddress these questionsmost effectively, andmanage risks
in a changingclimate, understandingdrivers of risk is fundamental, andattribution
sciencehasakey role toplay.
To end, how is attribution science relevant for L&Dpolicy and practice? And
could it be useful?While in a political context attribution is often associatedwith
compensation for climate change impacts, we show that the science of attribution
has the potential formuch broader applications. Attribution has an important role
to play in helping understanding L&D, including through quantification of risks,
investigatingof the relative importanceofdifferent driversof change, and identify-
ing timescales onwhich significant impacts of climate change emerge in different
regionsof theworld.Regardlessof thepolicymechanismsforaddressinglossesand
damages, it is important to foster a better understanding of howclimate change is
influencing losses and damages.With further scientific integration, including inte-
grating attribution studies with future projections, and through informed science-
policy-practice dialogue, attribution could contribute towards the development of
usefulpractical actions toavert andaddress lossesanddamages.
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AdamD (2011)Climate change in court. NatClimChange 1(3):127. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncl
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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