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212 O.Serdeczny
Box8.1 Incommensurabilityandeconomicvaluation
Onewayofintegratingnon-economicvalueswithdecision-makingthatisbasedoncost-
benefit analyses is through the economic valuation ormonetisation of non-economic
values. Methods to do so exist, primarily through revealed preference, which trace
consumerbehaviour that indirectly relates toanon-economicgood(e.g.healthexpen-
ditures), or stated preference,where respondents are asked howmuch theywould be
willing topay topreserveacertaingoodorhowmuch theywouldbewilling toaccept
incompensationfor the lossofagood.Theapplicationofsuchmethods isnotwithout
controversyandhasbeensubject tomuchdebateandscrutiny (UNFCCC2013a).
Methodological issues—andmoral concerns regardingcost-benefit analyses ingener-
al—aside, it isworthnoting that assigningmonetaryvalue to incommensurablegoods
rests on a number of assumptions which themselvesmay be in conflict with values
or interests in different cultural and political contexts. Assuming that a price can be
assignedtocertaingoodsorservicesmaybereave themofwhatconstitutes theirvalue,
namely the very fact that they cannot be bought or sold. The value of friendship is
an example of such constitutive incommensurability (O´Neill 2001). Climate change
affects livelihoods across cultures, whomay have differing understandings ofwhich
values are undermined by the idea of assigning themmarket value; the application
of economic valuation effectively imposes one interpretation, namely that there is no
constitutive incommensurability,overanyothers.Further, theapplicationofeconomic
valuationmasks questions of power and rights to ownership, which are often at the
basis of conflicting values and are of high relevance for decision-making.While it is
not the purpose of economic valuation to solve these issues, the problem is that “its
applicationassumesthatananswerhasalreadybeengiven”(O´Neill2001:1868).Thus,
whileeconomicvaluationmaypresentausefulwayofintegratingnon-economicvalues
intocost-benefitanalyses, thisshouldbedonecriticallyandwithoutdivertingattention
awayfromquestions that requirepolitical andpublicdeliberation.
Alternativeapproaches to integratingNELs intocost-benefitanalysescouldbe further
explored.Forexample, inanalogytoattemptsof incorporatingarights-basedapproach
into cost-benefit analyses (Lowry andPeterson2012), non-economic values could be
integrated intocost-benefitanalyses through theestablishmentof safeguardsoroutput
filters. In thecaseofoutputfilters,anydecisions thatarebasedoncost-benefitanalyses
are excluded if they violate certain rights (or losses), e.g. the right to bodily integrity
(or loss of life). However, it should be noted that thismight be challenging to apply
forallnon-economicvalues in thecontextofclimatechange, resourcescarcityand the
virtuallyunavoidable risks that comewithanycourseofaction.
8.4 DevelopingSolutions
The role of theWIM in promoting instruments to addressNELD is still evolving.
Inorder toget someorientation regarding the scopeand levelof implementationof
instrumentsunder theWIMit ishelpful to review the three functionof theWIMas
outlined inDecision3/CP.18: (a)Enhancingknowledgeandunderstandingofcom-
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