The adverse impacts of human-induced climate change have severe repercussions for the planet’s well-being and societies. Rising sea levels, elevated temperatures, extreme weather, and biodiversity loss are among the current global challenges.
Despite commitments to mitigate and adapt to these impacts in line with the Paris Agreement, these measures may be insufficient, leading to unavoidable and sometimes irreversible loss and damage.
Arguably, a decision about loss and damage was one of the most prominent outcomes of the recently closed COP28 negotiations in Dubai.
In a new publication, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre and DanChurchAid summarizes negotiation outcomes on this crucial aspect of the global response to the climate crisis.
Download the publication here.
Negotiations related to loss and damage focused on the following topics: operationalizing the Loss and Damage Fund and a decision about funding arrangements, deciding on a host for the Santiago Network, inclusion of loss and damage in the ‘global stocktake”, endorsing the report of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism, and including loss and damage in the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance.
This publication outlines the agreements reached during COP28 on these issues. The description is based on the text of the various decision drafts, accessed from the UNFCCC website on 13th December 2023. Further, the description draws on both informal exchanges involving the authors and the exchanges between negotiators during COP28.