II. What is loss and damage?

I. Introduction

In 2025, the international support available for countries and communities to respond to and address loss and damage caused by the adverse effects of climate change continues to evolve. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement, there are now three core bodies that exist to service the needs of developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.‍

Although these institutions have been established and are now fully operational, they are not yet disbursing funds or catalysing the implementation of support. There is substantial work ahead to enable them to deliver at the scale of the needs of loss and damage, which are escalating with every increment of global warming. In this context, this brief provides an overview of support currently available and planned and signals ways forward for these institutions to reach their full potential.

II. What is loss and damage?

To access support, one first has to know what they are asking support for. Loss and Damage policy making recognises that physical climate change is happening and mitigation and adaptation will not enable countries to avoid damage to ecosystems, infrastructure and livelihoods or in some cases permanent loss, such as loss of whole islands. The science, as reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), provides different scenarios of how severe these losses and damages will be based on mitigation and adaptation efforts. Meanwhile, the IPCC also talks about “hard” and “soft” adaptation limits — hard limits being where adaptation is not possible, and soft limits are where options to adapt may exist but are not available including due to financial, technology and capacity constraints. Thus, while it is clear that a response is needed, the scale of that response is not settled.

With no settled definition as yet under the UNFCCC, this broad definition can be the source of some confusion for those seeking support under its institutions. However there is extensive and useful analysis available, and an alternative way to look at it is in terms of the concrete impacts. Climate change events include slow onset climatic processes and extreme weather events, which result in both economic and non-economic loss and damage — where “loss” is permanent and “damage” may be able to be restored.