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6 ThePoliticsof (andBehind) theUNFCCC’sLoss… 161
facilitativebasis” to“enhanceunderstanding,actionandsupport” inareas including
earlywarningsystems,comprehensiveriskassessmentandmanagement, risk insur-
ance facilities, climate riskpooling, andnon-economic losses (UNFCCC2015).
6.3 ActorsandPositions in theL&DDebate
The inclusionofL&Dasadistinct concept fromadaptation in theParisAgreement
was the result of a series of politically charged negotiations, fuelled by a range of
actorswithavarietyofviewpoints.Theroleplayedbyeachoftheseactors, including
theirnegotiationpositions, isbrieflydiscussed in this section.
6.3.1 DevelopingCountriesandTheirRepresentativeGroups
Asrecognisedabove,developingcountriesandtheir representativegroupshavepro-
videdmuchof the impetusfor therecognitionofL&Dwithin theUNFCCC.AOSIS
hasbeenparticularlyimportant,havingfirstcampaignedfor theinclusionofL&Din
climatechangenegotiationsintheearly1990sandcontinuingtodosoinconjunction
withother representativegroups.Otherkeyeventshave included:
• In 2005 atCOP11,Bangladeshonbehalf of theLDCGroup called for the com-
pensationofclimatechangedamages (VanhalaandHestbaek2016);
• In2013,G77with support fromAOSISandLDCspushed for (andachieved) the
adoptionof theWIM(Calliari 2016a); and
• Prior to the commencement of COP21, members of the G77, China bloc, the
ClimateVulnerable Forum,LDCs,AOSIS and theAfricaGroup all emphasised
the importanceofL&Dto theParisnegotiations (Hoffmeister andHuq2015).
The negotiating position of developing countries in general has been to (i) con-
sider L&Das distinct fromadaptation; (ii) treat climate change negotiations as an
appropriate forum to discuss L&D; (iii) hold developed countries liable for L&D;
and (iv) call for compensation (Huq andDe Souza 2016). At the same time, they
haveraisedconcerns that theemphasisofL&Ddiscourseonfinancialcompensation
could have a trivialising effect on addressing the underlying needs of developing
countries (Hoffmaister et al. 2014).
6.3.2 DevelopedCountries
Developedcountrieshavegenerallybeencriticalandprovidedtheoppositestanceto
developing countries on negotiations aroundL&D.Particular resistancewasmade
in recognising L&Das distinct from adaptation. This is reflected, for instance, in
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