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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
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