Page - 368 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

368 J.HandmerandJ.Nalau 15.2 ChartingOut theLossandDamageRiskSpace forPacificIslandStates Theriskspacesofmostconcerngloballyarethoseidentifiedas“tolerable”and“intol- erable”byMechlerandSchinko(2016).Tolerablerisk,asdefinedhere, isarisklevel that theaffectedcommunity isadjustedto,orcanadjust to, forexample,by(further) implementing seawalls, building codes or style and ecosystemmanagement.Over time, losses associatedwith the risk and the costs of adjusting and adaptingwould be expected to rise and could, alongwith increased frequency of severe disruptive events, lead to riskbecoming intolerable. In the risk space context, a common definition of “intolerable loss” is that it defines an adaptation limit. Dowet al. (2013) define this limit froman actor’s (an individual, communityorother entity)perspective as “thepoint atwhichanactor’s objectivescannotbe secured fromintolerable risks throughadaptiveactions” (Dow et al. 2013, p. 4). Thismeans that an individual is no longer able to reach his or her objectives in the given context (see also introduction byMechler et al. 2018). This is in linewithBarnett et al. (2015, p. 223)whoargue that limits to adaptation “involve irreversible losses of things individuals care about, either due to climate change impacts or as outcomes of climate change policies.” Adaptation limits, in otherwords,areinstanceswherearadical transformationis likelyrequired,whichin most casesmeans addressing loss anddamageof those activities, assets andvalues whichpeoplehold important. In thePacificSIDS, “intolerable” carries the implicationof relocation and reset- tlementgiventhemajorbiophysicalchallenges thatmanyof theseSIDSface(Nurse et al. 2014). This also includes loss of biodiversity and species specifically needed for traditional practices, such as the disappearance or reduction in kava (Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa), difficulties in cultivating taro andyam(most coun- tries in the Pacific), reduction in species that are used for customary handicrafts (pandanus)andtraditionalmedicine(Melanesiancountries,SolomonIslands,Papua NewGuinea,VanuatuandFiji inparticular).Thelossand/orcontaminationofwater resources (or significant reductiondue to strongElNinoeffects) alsodetermine the fateofmanyremotecommunitieswhomightnothaveoptions tootherwisecontinue their subsistence-based livelihoods inparticularplaces. The risk space in some Pacific island states, we argue, could already be at the tolerable/intolerable interface,which iscloser to today’s reality thanapotential sce- nario that might or might not take place in 2080 (see Table 15.1 and Fig. 15.2). Shortageofwateranddegradationofagricultural landsisonefactorintherelocation ofsomeSolomonIslandscommunitiesfromanumberofprovincestoHoniara.Also, low-lying communities such asOntong Java, Sikaiana andReef islands and settle- mentsbuiltonwatersuchasKwai,NgongosilaandLauarealreadyfacingincreasing difficultiesdue toenvironmental change (RepublicofSolomons2008). Slowonset processes, suchaswater and food scarcity (includingdeclining food gardenyields), andenvironmental degradation,whichareamplifiedbynaturalhaz- ards, can and have triggered relocation. Other factors include a lack of access to