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1. Addressing Loss and Damage through the Mosaic: A Simulation from the Delta Republic

Author:
Michael Franczak and Michael Weisberg
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
The 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) takes place amid change and contestation in the global political economy. High prices for food and fuel are still a problem, particularly for countries that are net importers of both. Sovereign debt also remains a challenge due to rising borrowing costs and inaction from major creditors. Meanwhile, the adverse impacts of climate change are rising in scale and intensity and falling disproportionately on the countries least equipped to address them. In this context, parties to the 2022 Climate Change Conference (COP27) agreed to establish new funding arrangements for addressing loss and damage, including a new Loss and Damage Fund (LDF). The proposal for a fund and funding arrangements coordinated by a Loss and Damage Impact Council presents an opportunity to assemble the mosaic of solutions imagined at COP27. The problem is that we still lack a clear and shared picture of what it means to fully address loss and damage: what needs doing, who needs to do it, and how and when it needs to be done. This paper is an attempt to imagine a well-functioning and coordinated system—a mosaic—with functions, institutions, and results that deliver stability in the face of adverse climate change impacts. First, the paper presents the scenario of the fictional Delta Republic, which is suffering a slow-onset crisis compounded by repeated extreme events. It then identifies elements of an ambitious but practical response from the system we have, including actions, modalities, actors, and timing. The paper identifies gaps in the response and obstacles to the actions envisaged in the scenario, including but not limited to finance and financial arrangements. In its conclusion, the paper uses insights gained through the scenario to propose: (1) the purpose of the funding arrangements for extreme and slow-onset events, (2) an initial list of members for a Loss and Damage Impact Council, and (3) potential actions and interventions for the Loss and Damage Fund. Finally, the paper emphasizes the critical nature of a country- or demand-driven approach to the support provided by the LDF, including the use of accredited entities for implementation.
Topic:
Climate Change, Political Economy, Simulation, Loss and Damage (L&D), and Conference of the Parties (COP)
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Refining the Global Goal on Adaptation ahead of COP28

Author:
Anna Cabre, Olivia Fielding, and Michael Weisberg
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
As the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) approaches, it is increasingly crucial to understand and develop clear actions for not only mitigation but also adaptation. While mitigation has the clear numerical target of limiting warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, adaptation is a complex concept that cannot be captured in a single figure. Ahead of COP28, there is a need for conceptual clarity as to what exactly the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) aims to achieve and how it can be globally applicable when adaptation is so often locally implemented. One way to clarify the GGA is to adopt well-being as the ultimate outcome toward which countries should be working. Well-being is a state where one can pursue one’s goals and thrive. This requires having adequate physical health, water, food, and a healthy environment, even as the impacts of climate change worsen. Adaptation actions that further this goal should be assessed by their effects on present and future human and environmental well-being. Whenever possible, these actions should be both transboundary, reaching across national borders and administrative or jurisdictional boundaries, and transformational, addressing the systemic root causes of climate impacts and working toward a more stable, flexible, and equitable future. This policy paper lays out the various climate risks that affect each of the four pillars of the GGA: human health, water security, food security, and biodiversity. It then details adaptation actions that can be taken in response to these risks, as well as indicators for improvement. While each step of the adaptation policy cycle should be robust and well-funded, these four pillars are the areas where progress is most crucial to achieving the GGA. When crafting a framework for transformational adaptation in these four areas, negotiators and technical experts can draw on existing, agreed-upon frameworks and indicators that point the world toward the goal of well-being for people and planet.
Topic:
Climate Change, Health, Water, Food Security, Adaptation, Conference of the Parties (COP), and Mitigation
Political Geography:
Global Focus