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9 The ImpactsofClimateChangeonEcosystemServices… 223
losses and damages refer to impacts of climate change that could in theory have
beenavoidedbut thathavenotbeenavoidedbecauseof inadequateefforts to reduce
risks or adapt. For example, unavoided losses and damagesmay result if a coastal
stormandhigh tide inundate properties because availablemeasures to adapt to sea
level rise were not adopted. By contrast, impacts and risks that are impossible to
avoid throughmitigation and adaptation efforts are characterised as “unavoidable
lossesanddamages”(Verheyen2012). Inreality there isambiguityaroundwhatcan
andwhatcannotbeavoided. Itdependson technological, social, economicorpolit-
ical limits tomitigation and adaptation,which are context-specific and subjective.
Strongdisastermitigation, for example,mightbe technicallypossiblebutnotpolit-
ically feasible or economically viable. Similarly, if a small, low-lying atoll would
be confrontedwith 6mof sea level rise, it could be technically possible to build a
dykearoundtheisland,but thecostsofsuchaneffortwouldprobablybeprohibitive.
Thischapterdoesnotattempt to resolve theseambiguities.However, it is important
to acknowledge that they exist because there are important policy implications. In
some cases, resourceswould be investedmost efficiently in trying to avoid losses
anddamages,andinothercases itwillbebetter toaccept lossesandfindsustainable
anddignifiedsolutions for thepeoplewhoareaffected.
A useful concept in the discussion about avoidable and unavoidable losses and
damagesare ‘adaptation limits’ (Dowet al. 2013;Prestonet al. 2013;Warner et al.
2013).According to the IPCC, adaptation limits are reachedwhenadaptation is no
longer able to “provide an acceptable level of security from risks to the existing
objectives andvalues andprevent the loss of thekeyattributes, components or ser-
vices of ecosystems” (Klein et al. 2014).An adaptation limits is considered ‘hard’
when no adaptive actions are possible to avoid intolerable risk,while soft adapta-
tion limits occurwhen options are currently not available to avoid intolerable risk
throughadaptiveaction(Agardetal.2014).Inpractice, it isnotalwaysclearwhether
anadaptation limit ishardor soft.Similarly,what renders riskacceptable, tolerable
or intolerable is subjective, context-specific and socially constructed (Mechler and
Schinko2016).
Acommonwayof analysing losses anddamages is bydifferentiating economic
andnon-economic lossesanddamages (NELD).Economic lossesareunderstood to
be the loss of resources, goods and services that are commonly traded inmarkets,
suchas livestockandcashcrops.Non-economic lossesanddamages involve things
that are not commonly traded inmarkets (UNFCCC2013). Examples ofNELD in
natural systems include loss of habitat and biodiversity and damage to ecosystem
services. While such items are not traded in markets, there is a strong research
communitydedicated tovaluing theservicesecosystemsprovide, andhencealso to
quantifying losseswhen they occur (Costanza et al. 2014). Examples ofNELD in
humansystemsincludeculturalandsociallossesassociatedwiththelossofancestral
landandforcedrelocation.Suchclimatechange impactsaredifficult toquantifybut
importanttoaddress(MorrisseyandOliver-Smith2014;chapterbySerdeczny2018).
Losses anddamages can alsobe categorised as direct and indirect. Examples of
direct losses and damages include loss of life, land, crops, or livestock–aswell as
damage tohouses, properties, and infrastructure.Such lossesanddamagesaregen-
Loss and Damage from Climate Change
Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Titel
- Loss and Damage from Climate Change
- Untertitel
- Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Autoren
- Reinhard Mechler
- Laurens M. Bouwer
- Thomas Schinko
- Swenja Surminski
- JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer
- Verlag
- Springer Open
- Datum
- 2019
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-72026-5
- Abmessungen
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Seiten
- 580
- Schlagwörter
- Environment, Climate change, Environmental law, Environmental policy, Risk management
- Kategorien
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima