Transcript Loss and Damage in the context of Adaptation to Climate Change

Adaptation to Climate Change
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european capacity building initiative
initiative européenne de renforcement des capacités
ecbi
Loss and Damage in the context of
Dr. Sumaya Ahmed Zakieldeen, Institute of Environmental Studies,
University of Khartoum
Dr. Koko Warner, Munich Climate Insurance Initiative & United
Nations University
for sustained capacity building in support of international climate change negotiations
pour un renforcement durable des capacités en appui aux négociations internationales
sur les changements climatiques
• In the past years, there has been a large rise in the
number of disasters (from between 200 and 250 in the
period 1987–97 to about double that in the first seven
years of the 21st century).
• This rise is caused almost entirely by an increase in
weather-related disasters
• Disaster statistics also show that floods are occurring
not just more often but also damage greater areas than
they did two decades ago
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Introduction
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Number of natural disasters (Red cross/Red Crescent, 2007)
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Con…
• In the past quarter century over 95% of deaths from
natural disasters occurred in developing countries, and
• direct economic losses (averaging US$100 billion per
annum in the last decade) were more than double in
low-income versus high-income countries.
• accompanied by losses in livelihoods and increase in
the number of people affected
• Limited chances of recovery in developing countries
(lack of insurance, indebtedness etc.)
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IPCC, AR4
• The IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report confirmed that:
climate change will bring more frequent and more intense
extreme weather events
• The increase in hazard exposure and in vulnerability;
point to a continuing trend of increasing losses due to
natural disasters; particular in developing countries
• Most vulnerable are people living in Least Developed
Countries, Small Island Developing States and African
countries
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Link between disaster risk reduction
adaptation
• Climate variability causes changing weather patterns
which will most likely result in more extreme weather
events; including a higher frequency and magnitude of
weather-related hazardous events ( e.g. floods,
droughts and tropical cyclones).
• The changes in the regional climate, environmental
conditions as well as continuous societal changes, such
as demographic changes and the global increase of
urban settlements in coastal areas, make it likely that
the exposure and vulnerability to extreme events will
increase
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• Consequently, comprehensive and holistic risk and
vulnerability reduction strategies should be a core part
of adaptation to weather-related extreme events.
• link the expertise in the disaster risk reduction
community with the knowledge of the climate change
adaptation community in order to promote resilience
and to reduce due to the adverse effects of climate
change.
• Reducing vulnerability to today’s climate through
disaster risk reduction is a central approach to build
adaptive capacity
UNFCCC discussion on loss and damage
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Focus on mitigation and compensation of loss and
damage (1990s to early 2000s).
• was marked by an emphasis on mitigation – the
collective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
linked to changes in global temperature increases
(creation of KP)
• States harmed by loss and damage related to climate
change claimed compensation to rehabilitate their
societies
• Enforcement of polluter pays principle
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A range of issues related to loss and damage – including:
impacts of extreme weather-related natural disasters
(floods, storms, drought, hail, etc.),
• human migration and displacement,
However, avoidance was the only acceptable approach,
and some Parties (least developed countries, AOSIS,
and other vulnerable countries) championed the 1.5
degree Celsius goal.
• With the publication of the IPCC 4th Assessment
Report in 2007, there were a lot of relevant findings.
• Accordingly it was necessary to discuss adaptation and
issues around negative impacts of climatic change on
human society
• This realization contributed to discussions about the
need for adaptation finance, and activities that would
help countries to adapt, and to manage loss and
damage.
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Adaptation & solutions to managing loss &
damage (Mid-2000s to 2011
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• The Bali Action Plan contained an entire section about
risk management and loss and damage associated with
climate change. Following Bali the developing countries
supported the AOSIS proposal for a mechanism for risk
reduction, management and sharing to be established,
that has the following components:
• (a) risk management and prevention component to
promote risk assessment and risk management tools and
strategies at all levels,
• (b) insurance component to address climate-related
extreme weather events,
• (c) rehabilitation and compensation component
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• Bali created the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term
Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA), and the issue of loss
and damage was assigned to adaptation discussions from
that time onwards
• a subsequent draft negotiating texts included several key
references to risk reduction and specific tools like
insurance
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• In Cancun: The COP decided to established the SBI
Work Program on loss and damage (Decision 1/CP.16 )
• It has been suggested that SBI make recommendations
on loss and damage to the COP for its consideration at its
18th session, as well as to strengthen international
cooperation and expertise to understand and reduce loss
and damage associated with the adverse effects of
climate change, including impacts related to extreme
weather events and slow onset events.
Implications for SBI Work Program Africa region
• The new SBI work programme stands as a good opportunity
for strengthen resilience of vulnerable and poor
communities in Africa. That could be facilited through a
combination of improved resource management,
microcredit and insurance.
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• Africa is the hardest hit continent by climate change and
has the weakest coping capacity, resources help Africa
manage disaster risk and adaptation to climate change are
limited and segmented
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• To protect themselves against adverse effects of climate
variability, the farmers in coping strategies, such as :
income diversification, crop diversification, livestock
holdings, crop storage and informal credits (inadequate)
• Insurance (e.g. drought insurance) is somehow found
popular in some part of Africa.
• Insurance has been described as a way to mitigate the
adverse events, by providing an indemnity to farmers in
dry years (covering the risk of climatically-induced crop
failure)
• Insurance has the potential to play an important role in
disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in
Africa
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• Insurance based on a weather index which is used as a
proxy for crop yield is an emerging alternative for
traditional agricultural insurance
• The farmer, in a given geographic area, pays an
insurance premium every year, and receives an
indemnity if the weather index of this area falls (model
from Burkina Faso)
• There are some good examples for the use of microinsurance for helping climate change vulnerable
communities in different parts of the continent.
Some African examples
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• In the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia) a Micro-Ensure
project called the Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for
Adaptation (HARITA) is helping the farmers to get
access to loans which will be used to purchase farm
inputs.
• The farmers receive agricultural extension services
including securing better market access.
• The Micro-Ensure also provide Weather Index
Insurance to cover the farmers in the event of crop
failure due to drought
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• In Malawi Micro-ensure provide protection against
crop failure caused by drought or excess rain and
enabled farmers to access credit in order to purchase
quality seeds and fertilisers in order to maximise
output
• By linking farms to local weather stations and
introducing an automatic payout process farmers were
not required to file a claim or go through an expensive
loss verification process in the event of crop failure
• Following a successful pilot scheme Weather Index
Crop Insurance was extended to cover farmers across
Africa in Tanzania and Rwanda.
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• In north Kenya (Marsabit region) an insurance
program was launched which uses index-based
livestock insurance.
• subscribers in the pilot plan pay a premium when
they sign up based on the value of the insured
livestock and receive an indemnity payment if they
experience loss beyond a certain level during the
covered time period
• It uses an index based on satellite images showing
the amount of available vegetation to estimate the
aggregate loss in the region (instead of using
inspectors)
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Policy & practice: Tools to address loss & damage at
different levels
Assess and characterize exposure to loss and damage
• One of the basic requirements for effective management
and reduction of loss and damage is risk assessment and
understanding what is exposed to loss and damage?
• Exposure could be: assets like man-made, natural and
social
• SBI work programme on loss and damage will help
countries understand what tools are needed to help Parties
characterize exposure (e.g. risk assessment, mapping,
typologies of assets exposed to loss and damage) through
rapid-onset events, or through slower-onset
foreseeable events related to climate change
Range of possible instruments
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Variety of tools are available to help vulnerable countries
address exposure to loss and damage related to medium
and macro level risks such as:
• Pre-disaster preparedness
• Risk reduction measures
• Emergency response measures
• Post-disaster rehabilitation measures
It would be useful for these tools to be discussed in the SBI
Work Program on Loss and Damage. In order to address
lessons learned, good practice, challenges, analysis of
relevance of various instruments in the context of
adaptation, etc.
• This could explore alternative combinations of elements
needed for implementation options would look like,
depending on different combinations of issues such as
Party needs, institutional arrangements/ operational
entity, governance considerations, alternative financial
arrangements, etc.
• Implementation options should consider placing the
avoidance and reduction of loss and damage as a leading
priority.
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Options for implementation of activities to address loss
and damage
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Way forward
A useful outcome for the SBI Work Program in Durban
would be to increase level of understanding about risk
management and loss and damage
• Risk management workshop in Lima, Peru
• Build capacity of delegates to feel comfortable
(technically) in talking about loss and damage issues
• Set achievable milestones at Durban for SB 36, SB37
(COP18) and beyond