Page - 145 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

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. References AdamD (2011)Climate change in court. NatClimChange 1(3):127. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncl imate1131 AllenM(2003)Liabilityforclimatechange.Nature421:891–892.https://doi.org/10.1038/421891a AllenM, Pall P, StoneD, Stott P, FrameD,Min S-K,NozawaT,Yukimoto S (2007) Scientific challenges in theattributionofharmtohuman influenceonclimate.UniversityofPennsylvania LawRev1353–1400 Arnell N, Compagnucci L, Cunha R, da L, Hanaki K, Howe C, Shiklomanov GMSEI (2001) Hydrology and water resources. In: McCarthy J, Canziani O, Leary N, Dokken DWK (eds) Climate change 2001: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution ofworking group II to the third assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge UniversityPress,Cambridge,UnitedKingdomandNewYork,NY,USA,pp192–233