Challenges of Compensation and Reparation for Loss and Damage Related to the Adverse Effects of Climate Change

Anthropogenic climate change has and will have unavoidable adverse effects despite mitigation and adaptation policies. Therefore, the financial burden of the costs of loss and damage must be distributed fairly and proportionally. This implies that those responsible for climate change must take responsibility and compensate those who suffer losses and, if possible, repair the damages related to this phenomenon. However, climate justice has been limited by the lack of a causal link between a specific climate change effect and specific damages or losses. Accordingly, this article discusses the compensation and reparation of losses and damages related to the adverse effects of climate change, as a stream applicable after mitigation and adaptation policies. In addition, this article reviews the implications of the relevant findings that established the existence and development of climate change as a problem that affects the enjoyment of human rights, to argue how the theory of human rights can contribute to the current legal model for reparation and compensation for losses and damages associated with climate change. Also, due to the impossibility of obtaining a legally binding agreement as a structure for integration, and to adequately address the problem of causes, consequences, benefits and burdens, vulnerable groups ought to be the most affected.

Download Full-text

Compensating for Climate Change Loss and Damage

Political Studies ◽

10.1177/0032321716647401 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 65 (2) ◽

pp. 356-372 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Edward A Page ◽

Clare Heyward

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Adverse Effects ◽

Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Negotiations ◽

Normative Framework ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Loss And Damage ◽

International Climate ◽

Compensatory Justice

With the adoption of the Warsaw International Mechanism in 2013, the international community recognised that anthropogenic climate change will result in a range of adverse effects despite policies of mitigation and adaptation. Addressing these climatic ‘losses and damages’ is now a key dimension of international climate change negotiations. This article presents a normative framework for thinking about loss and damage designed to inform, and give meaning to, these negotiations. It argues that policies addressing loss and damage, particularly those targeting developing countries, should respect norms of compensatory justice which aim to make victims of unwarranted climatic disruptions ‘whole again’. The article develops a typology of different kinds of climate change disruption and uses it to (1) explain the differences between ‘losses’ and ‘damages’, (2) assign priorities among compensatory measures seeking to address loss and damage and (3) explore a range of equitable responses to loss and damage.

Download Full-text

The Role of Late-Night Infotainment Comedy in Communicating Climate Change Consensus

10.31234/osf.io/ufg9r ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Edward John Roy Clarke ◽

Anna Klas ◽

Joshua Stevenson ◽

Emily Jane Kothe

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Policy Support ◽

Mitigation Policy ◽

Behavioural Intentions ◽

Late Night ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Climate Action ◽

Adaptation Policies ◽

Diverse Audience

Climate change is a politically-polarised issue, with conservatives less likely than liberals to perceive it as human-caused and consequential. Furthermore, they are less likely to support mitigation and adaptation policies needed to reduce its impacts. This study aimed to examine whether John Oliver’s “A Mathematically Representative Climate Change Debate” clip on his program Last Week Tonight polarised or depolarised a politically-diverse audience on climate policy support and behavioural intentions. One hundred and fifty-nine participants, recruited via Amazon MTurk (94 female, 64 male, one gender unspecified, Mage = 51.07, SDage = 16.35), were presented with either John Oliver’s climate change consensus clip, or a humorous video unrelated to climate change. Although the climate change consensus clip did not reduce polarisation (or increase it) relative to a control on mitigation policy support, it resulted in hyperpolarisation on support for adaptation policies and increased climate action intentions among liberals but not conservatives.

Download Full-text

Litigating Human Rights Violations Related to the Adverse Effects of Climate Change in the Pacific Islands

Climate Change Litigation in the Asia Pacific ◽

10.1017/9781108777810.006 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 94-119

Author(s):

Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Human Rights ◽

Adverse Effects ◽

Pacific Islands ◽

Human Rights Violations ◽

The Pacific

Download Full-text

Loss and damage from climate change and implicit assumptions of sustainable development

Climatic Change ◽

10.1007/s10584-021-02970-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 164 (1-2) ◽

Author(s):

Chad S. Boda ◽

Turaj Faran ◽

Murray Scown ◽

Kelly Dorkenoo ◽

Brian C. Chaffin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Systematic Analysis ◽

Integrative Framework ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Policy Domain ◽

Loss And Damage ◽

Development Approach ◽

Research And Policy

AbstractLoss and damage from climate change, recognized as a unique research and policy domain through the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) in 2013, has drawn increasing attention among climate scientists and policy makers. Labelled by some as the “third pillar” of the international climate regime—along with mitigation and adaptation—it has been suggested that loss and damage has the potential to catalyze important synergies with other international agendas, particularly sustainable development. However, the specific approaches to sustainable development that inform loss and damage research and how these approaches influence research outcomes and policy recommendations remain largely unexplored. We offer a systematic analysis of the assumptions of sustainable development that underpins loss and damage scholarship through a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed research on loss and damage. We demonstrate that the use of specific metrics, decision criteria, and policy prescriptions by loss and damage researchers and practitioners implies an unwitting adherence to different underlying theories of sustainable development, which in turn impact how loss and damage is conceptualized and applied. In addition to research and policy implications, our review suggests that assumptions about the aims of sustainable development determine how loss and damage is conceptualized, measured, and governed, and the human development approach currently represents the most advanced perspective on sustainable development and thus loss and damage. This review supports sustainable development as a coherent, comprehensive, and integrative framework for guiding further conceptual and empirical development of loss and damage scholarship.

Download Full-text

Communicating Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Efforts in American Cities

Climate ◽

10.3390/cli7030045 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 45 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Constantine Boussalis ◽

Travis Coan ◽

Mirya Holman

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Policy ◽

Climate Mitigation ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Press Releases ◽

City Governments ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Adaptation Policies ◽

American Cities ◽

The City

City governments have a large role to play in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, given that urban locales are responsible for disproportionately high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are on the “front lines” of observed and anticipated climate change impacts. This study examines how US mayors prioritize climate policies within the context of the city agenda. Employing a computer-assisted content analysis of over 2886 mayoral press releases related to climate change from 82 major American cities for the period 2010–2016, we describe and explain the extent to which city governments discuss mitigation and adaptation policies in official communications. Specifically, we rely on a semi-supervised topic model to measure key climate policy themes in city press releases and examine their correlates using a multilevel statistical model. Our results suggest that while mitigation policies tend to dominate the city agenda on climate policy, discussion of adaptation efforts has risen dramatically in the past few years. Further, our statistical analysis indicates that partisanship influences city discussion on a range of climate policy areas—including emissions, land use policy, and climate resiliency—while projected vulnerability to climatic risks only influences discussion of climate resiliency and adaptation efforts.

Download Full-text

Trapped or Voluntary? Non-Migration Despite Climate Risks

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12114718 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 4718 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Bishawjit Mallick ◽

Jochen Schanze

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Human Rights ◽

Climate Adaptation ◽

Social Equality ◽

Specific Research ◽

Climate Risks ◽

Migration Research ◽

Policy Goals ◽

Adaptation Policies ◽

Research And Policy

Millions of people impacted by climate change actually want to remain in place; these aspirations and respective capabilities need more attention in migration research and climate adaptation policies. Residents at risk may voluntarily stay put, as opposed to being involuntarily trapped, and understanding such subjectivity is empirically challenging. This comment elaborates on “voluntary non-migration” to call attention to a neglected population within the ongoing discourses on climate-induced migration, social equality and human rights. A roadmap for action outlines specific research and policy goals.

Download Full-text

Mapping a Climate Change Vulnerability Index: An Assessment in Agricultural, Geological and Demographic Sectors across the Districts of Karnataka (India)

International Journal of Environment and Climate Change ◽

10.9734/ijecc/2019/v9i830130 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 447-456

Author(s):

C. Shivakumara ◽

P. S. Srikantha Murthy

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Demographic Indicators ◽

Prone Area ◽

Composite Vulnerability Index ◽

Adaptation Policies ◽

Major Factors ◽

Index Level

Climate change is a continuous phenomenon and over hundreds of years, the atmosphere has changed considerably around the world. Karnataka has the second largest drought prone area in the country next only to Rajasthan. Assessment of vulnerability index could play a major role in designing appropriate mitigation and adaptation policies to overcome the impacts of climate change. The vulnerability assessment is an exhaustive procedure determined by a large number of indicators. This study attempted to capture a picture of composite vulnerability index of different districts of Karnataka by considering agronomic, climatic and demographic indicators. The secondary data on climatic, agronomic and demographic factors were collected from various sources for the year 2017-18. The findings of the study as shown that the average vulnerability index for 30 districts is 0.577 and 16 districts placed above the average composite vulnerability index level. Bidar (0.655) is the most vulnerable district followed by Kolar (0.658) and Yadgir (0.638) districts. Shivamogga (0.440), Davanagere (0.486) and Udupi (0.486) districts exhibit the least vulnerability to changing climate. The results suggest that agricultural and climatic indicators are the major factors which influence vulnerability. So special attention should be given to agricultural and climatic sectors to minimize the impacts of climatic change in the most vulnerable districts.

Download Full-text

Addressing the Adverse Effects of Climate Change on the Human Rights of Older Persons

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.2255 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 591-591

Author(s):

Erin Burk-Leaver

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Human Rights ◽

Adverse Effects ◽

Successful Aging ◽

Well Being ◽

Good Health ◽

Sanitation Services ◽

Change Events ◽

Access To Medical Care ◽

Older Populations

Abstract The common consequences of climate change events include: displacement, loss of sustainable shelter and housing, and limited access to medical care and other resources such as food, clean water, and sanitation services. These adverse effects coincide to an alarming degree with the human rights most essential to those in vulnerable or marginalized groups, including older populations. Whether through displacement or disruption of supply, the stressors of climate change events greatly exacerbate older populations’ vulnerability, especially when compounded by negative social determinants of health, such as existing social, political, and economic barriers to successful aging. Using the SDGs as a framework to develop policies around (13) climate action and the use of improved (9) industry, innovation, and infrastructure to create (11) sustainable cities and communities, it is possible to establish (10) reduced inequalities to promote overall (3) good health and well-being in our older populations.

Download Full-text