Strengthening National Responses to Loss and Damage – A Practitioners Brief

This practitioners brief is for government officials, practitioners, and partners who need to turn the Loss and Damage agenda into concrete national action.

It builds on the Strengthening National Responses to Loss and Damage guide, available here.

Effective Loss and Damage strategies recognize that some impacts can still be avoided or reduced through better risk management, while others require measures to manage and respond to residual and irreversible losses. Justice is central: who bears losses, who receives support, whose knowledge counts, and whose rights and identities are recognized.
Integrating Loss and Damage into national development planning—adaptation strategies, disaster risk reduction frameworks, sectoral policies, and poverty reduction plans—helps align climate action with social and economic priorities, avoid maladaptation, and better protect vulnerable groups.

The brief is structured for practical use and is intended to help countries organize and sequence work on loss and damage, rather than to serve as a standalone implementation manual.

This publication was developed by the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre with funding from UNEP’s
Adaptation and Resilience Branch.

Download