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8 Non-economicLossandDamageand theWarsaw… 217
8.5 Conclusions
The concept of NELD spans a wide range of adverse effects of climate change
that affect both humanwellbeing and natural systems. Some of these effects are
standardly considered in public policies on climate change (e.g. adverse effects on
human health or human life) while others (e.g. loss of cultural heritage or social
networks)remainlesswell reflected.WiththeparticularfocusnowplacedonNELD
under theUNFCCC,theopportunityarises towidenthescopeofcurrentapproaches
anddesigncomprehensivepolicies that accommodate thedimensionof incommen-
surablevaluesat risk fromclimatechangeand that are sensitive tocontext.
Debateson themostadequateandeffectivevaluationmethods, inparticularcon-
troversiesaroundeconomicvaluation,arelikelytocontinueinthecontextofNELD.
Here, itwillbe important tonot“jumpthegun”andconsider towhichendsdataand
informationonnon-economicvalueswillbeneeded.Incasesofpreventivemeasures,
adeepunderstandingof thevaluesand their functions forwell-being that shouldbe
preserveddespitechoices that threaten thesevaluesand that are limitedbyresource
availability, such as the choice to relocate despite high sense of place, is needed
for an effective design of policies. The economic value of community ties, sense
of place or traditional cultures would add little information to the design of such
policies.Similarly, the identificationofpossibilities formeans-replacingcompensa-
tionwill not rely on themonetary value ofwhat has been lost but of the goals and
ends thatwere pursuedby those affectedbyNELD.What is, however, needed and
currently lacking are economic estimates of the costs of preventingNELDimpacts
andrisks.Thesewill also informthedebateonadequatescalesof international sup-
port andburdensharing thathavenotbeenaddressed in thischapter (seechapterby
Wallimann-Helmeret al. 2018).
RaisingawarenessonNELDandgivingitappropriateweight indecision-making
processeswill continue to be a challenge. This is particularly the case in the inter-
national settingof theUNFCCCwheredifferentculturesare representedandwhere
decisions on funding and supportwill likely rely on standardised criteria and cen-
tralised decision-making.Thedevelopment of dedicated efforts to integrateNELD
in thedesignand implementationofbothpreventive and reactive approaches at the
nationalandregionallevelcanbeexpectedinthecomingyears.Fortheseinstruments
tobeeffectiveitwillbeimportanttoputthemonastrongevidencebase.Comprehen-
sivegeographical coverageof climate impact observations, includingcontributions
fromsocialdisciplinessuchashumangeographyandenvironmentalpsychologycan
provideimportant insights in thisregard.Similarly,academicdiscussionsof thenor-
mativedimensionsofNELDandadequateresponsescanclarifymuchof thedebate.
However,whichvalueswillcountandhowtheywillbeweighedindecision-making
bothat thenationalandinternational levelwill in theendalwaysbeoneof judgment
andas such requirepoliticaldebateanddeliberation.
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