Page - 374 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

374 J.HandmerandJ.Nalau Fig.15.3 Damage from tropical cyclonePamin2015 innorthEfate island,Vanuatu.Photo John Handmer buildings.About80%ofthenationalhousingstockwasdamagedordestroyed(SPC 2015).Telecommunicationsceasedfunctioninginmostareas.Infrastructureandfood cropswerebadlydamaged,withmanytreecrops lost.Watersuppliesweredamaged orcontaminatedwithsaltwater leavingnearlyhalf thepopulation(110,000) inneed ofcleandrinkingwater (OCHA2015;Handmerand Iveson2017). Given thatmostof the ruralpopulation lives in traditionalhousingmadeofpalm leaves,bambooandother localmaterials, inhardmonetary termslosingthesestruc- tureswould amount to little.However,whenpeople’s access to income is lowand there is much ecosystem damage (Vanuatu 2015); for example on Tanna Island, the assessment of loss anddamagebecomesmuchmore complexwhen thehouses cannot be rebuilt and themedicinal plants have been lost. In addition, integrating suchelements as senseofplace into lossanddamageassessments is anotherhurdle when intangible values do not convert easily intomonetary forms (see chapter by Serdeczny2018;Mageeet al. 2016). A recent gap analysis of L&D in Vanuatu (Talakai 2015) found that none of theexistingprojects,programsorpoliciesexplicitlyconsideredriskissues,although thereisrecognitionthatthemaineconomicimpactsaretotourismandtobothformal and informal sector agriculture.Where L&D is considered, it ismostly related to cyclonedamagesand therearecurrentlynometricsordata toevenmakestatements on slow onset events such as droughts (Talakai 2015). Volcanic ash is one of the