Page - 428 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

428 M.LandauerandS. Juhola to emerge (Mechler and Schinko 2016; see introduction byMechler et al. 2018; chapterbyJamesetal.2018).Abroaddefinitionintheliteraturemakesadistinction between avoidable, unavoided and unavoidable impacts of climate change, where “irreversibility”refers to ‘losses’and“impacts thatcanbealleviated”refer to ‘dam- ages’ (seeMechler and Schinko 2016: 290). In essence, thismeans that Loss and Damagecanbenarrowlydefinedasthe“residual,adverseimpactsofclimatechange beyondwhatcanbeaddressedbymitigationandadaptation”(seeHuggeletal.2015: 454).Here,weemploythisdefinitionofLossandDamagerelatedtoclimatechange impacts that areunavoidable. 18.2.1 LittleResponsibilityofEmissions Onaglobalscale,Arctictraditionalandindigenouslifestyleshavehardlycontributed togreenhousegasemissions, although traditional livelihoodsof theArctic commu- nities take place in high-emitting first world countries, and fossil fuels extracted fromArcticregionscontributetoglobalGHGsandserveallcountries(Pechsirietal. 2010).Globalmitigationresponsibilityofallcountries,developedcountries,emerg- ingeconomiesanddevelopingcountries,isnotonlyimportanttoreducevulnerability of communities of global South but also of theArctic communities. This has been shown by empirical evidence in the IPCC 4th assessment synthesis report (IPCC 2007). 18.2.2 Identifying theMostVulnerablebyFollowingHuman RightsPrinciples Fromtheclimatejusticepointofview(seechapterbyWallimann-Helmeretal.2018), andasconsideredby Inuit political leaders (seeFord2009;Crowley2011), climate changeisprimarilyahumanrightsissuebecauseitputstheecosystemservices-based traditionallivelihoodsatrisk,andleadstosocialandeconomicimpactsinArcticcom- munities (Maldonadoet al. 2013).Marginal livelihoods, especially those located in Arcticcoastalareas, facebothslow-onsetandextremeevents thatheavilyaffectcrit- ical infrastructure, andcauseharmto localand traditional livelihoods (Huggelet al. 2015).Sometraditionalwaysof living, forexample, canno longerbepracticeddue to changes in sea ice conditions (Sejersen2012;Shearer 2012;BronenandChapin III2013;Bronen2015).Yet, internationalrolesandresponsibilitiestodealwithLoss andDamage are not clear, and current national level legal frameworks seemnot to provide “optimal” solutions to support adaptation of vulnerable Arctic communi-