Page - 376 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

376 J.HandmerandJ.Nalau 15.4 Conclusions This chapter has situated the discussion of L&Dwithin the context of the South- west Pacific Small Island Developing States. A key conclusion of this chapter is that limits arebeing reachedalready in some locations.Regional and local loss and damage assessments are needed. These could draw on the PDNAs (Post-Disaster NeedsAssessments) tocreateabaselineagainstwhichfurtherassessmentscouldbe compared,andassuchbeusedtooperationalisetheL&Dmechanismsontheground. By using the L&D risk and options space as a conceptual framework andmetric, countries could provide a national assessment of L&Dwith respect to activities andcommunitiesmappedagainst riskandoptionspaces.Forexample,communities havingtoinvoluntarilyrelocatecouldberecordedandmappedontheintolerablerisk space that could thenbepartof theL&Dreportingprocess. Understandingtheinteractionofrapidonsetextremesandslowonsetprocessesis crucial tounderstanding loss anddamage in thePacificcontext. Justicedimensions are also fundamental for climate research and policy: for example,most develop- ing and least developed countries do not have the strong long-term scientific evi- dencebase that underpins robust climatepolicy (Huggel et al. 2016; seechapterby Wallimann-Helmeretal.2018).There ismucheffort in thePacificregiondevotedto increasingcapacityandsystemsof informationandknowledgemanagement,which canaid inaddressingsomeof these issues.However,moreneeds tobedoneinorder todevelop theevidencebase for adaptationandL&D. Thereisaneedforacloser integrationof theL&D,disasterriskmanagementand theadaptationcommunitiesbothwithinandoutsidetheClimateChangeConvention. Abetterunderstanding, forexample,of theconceptof ‘adaptation limit’can inform theL&Ddebateswhilealsokeepinginmindthedifficulties inattributioninparticu- lar incontextswhere thenecessarydata isnot readilyavailable (Huggeletal.2016). Amore nuanced understanding ofwhere adaptation limits have become a reality, whyandhowisalsoessentialasdecision-makingprocessesmightbealreadytaking placeduetootherstressors thanclimatechangeimpactsalone(LealFilhoandNalau 2018;MortreuxandBarnett2009).ThecurrentrelianceinthePacificonhardinfras- tructures, such as seawalls, also needs re-visiting in identifyinghoweffective such investments are andwhere thesemight be better served through ecosystem-based adaptationapproaches (MackeyandWare2018). AsMoser andBoykoff (2013) also note, it is rarely enough to assess and focus on one type of a risk. Increasingly, attention should be paid on the multitude of risks and changing risk profiles due to particular adaptation actions. In the case of relocation, one approach could be to use destination vulnerability and exposure assessments,whichconsidernewandpotentiallyemerging risks for thecommunity being relocated.Suchassessments could include socio-economic, political andcul- tural dimensions including existing land rights and entitlements, extent of existing services, cultural context, access to labourmarket andpotential forpursuingpartic- ular livelihoods, andgeophysical risks.Added infrastructureneeds in the receiving placeneed tobealso included in suchassessments (Aerts2017).While this sounds