scholarly journals The Politics of (and Behind) the UNFCCC’s Loss and Damage Mechanism

Author(s):  
Elisa Calliari ◽  
Swenja Surminski ◽  
Jaroslav Mysiak
2016 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birsha Ohdedar

Loss and damage from the impacts of climate change affect many countries and communities across the world. In 2013, the Warsaw Mechanism on Loss and Damage, created through the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (unfccc), established an institutional process to respond to such impacts. This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on climate liability by outlining a normative framework based on international law that can be used as a guiding path for the mechanism. It is argued that addressing loss and damage in line with these core principles and international law is required to develop a robust and legitimate mechanism. This framework is then used to answer critical questions regarding an international loss and damage mechanism for climate change.


Climate Law ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 267-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît Mayer

The discussions on loss and damage associated with climate change that opened up within the unfccc in recent years constitute the latest attempt of developing states to obtain something akin to compensation from major greenhouse gas emitters for the adverse social impacts of climate change. These discussions generally contemplate a mechanism financed by developed states that would provide direct support to individuals, corporations, and governments in developing countries (‘vertical’ approach), for instance, through insurance. This article argues that, for practical as well as normative reasons, a loss-and-damage mechanism should instead support vulnerable developing states, in a states-to-states ‘horizontal’ approach. Accordingly, financial support would be provided to developing states that incorporate vulnerable populations and are responsible for protecting them. Three sets of arguments are developed in support of this proposition. First, attributing loss and damage at the individual level is particularly challenging, whereas horizontal approaches allow consideration of probabilistic harm and compensation through bundle payments. Second, horizontal approaches are more suitable for pursuing goals such as economic efficiency, the reduction of loss and damage, the creation of an incentive for climate change mitigation, and broader goals of social justice. Third, vertical approaches go against prevailing principles of international law and involve unjustified interference in the domestic affairs of developing states.


Author(s):  
P.E. Champness ◽  
R.W. Devenish

It has long been recognised that silicates can suffer extensive beam damage in electron-beam instruments. The predominant damage mechanism is radiolysis. For instance, damage in quartz, SiO2, results in loss of structural order without mass loss whereas feldspars (framework silicates containing Ca, Na, K) suffer loss of structural order with accompanying mass loss. In the latter case, the alkali ions, particularly Na, are found to migrate away from the area of the beam. The aim of the present study was to investigate the loss of various elements from the common silicate structures during electron irradiation at 100 kV over a range of current densities of 104 - 109 A m−2. (The current density is defined in terms of 50% of total current in the FWHM probe). The silicates so far ivestigated are:- olivine [(Mg, Fe)SiO4], a structure that has isolated Si-O tetrahedra, garnet [(Mg, Ca, Fe)3Al2Si3AO12 another silicate with isolated tetrahedra, pyroxene [-Ca(Mg, Fe)Si2O6 a single-chain silicate; mica [margarite, -Ca2Al4Si4Al4O2O(OH)4], a sheet silicate, and plagioclase feldspar [-NaCaAl3Si5O16]. Ion- thinned samples of each mineral were examined in a VG Microscopes UHV HB501 field- emission STEM. The beam current used was typically - 0.5 nA and the current density was varied by defocussing the electron probe. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectra were collected every 10 seconds for a total of 200 seconds using a Link Systems windowless detector. The thickness of the samples in the area of analysis was normally 50-150 nm.


2014 ◽  
Vol 501-504 ◽  
pp. 1096-1103
Author(s):  
Hong Xiao Wu ◽  
Hao Zhe Xing ◽  
Zhi Fang Yan

The blast impact dynamic experiment of reinforced concrete rectangular plate with simply supported boundary conditions was performed using explosion pressure simulator. With 3-D FEM software LS-DYNA, the separate solid models of concrete and steel were established and 3-D FEM dynamic analysis of the experiment process was carried out. Compared calculation results to experiment results synthetically, the damage mechanism and failure characteristics of reinforced concrete plate under explosion impact loading condition were got and it is also verified that the H-J-C model can approximately simulate the concrete properties well under explosion impact loading condition.


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