THE OVERDUE CLIMATE JUSTICE OF LOSS AND DAMAGE.

• Author: Rao, Aparajita Suresh

INTRODUCTION

In October 2022, while I was preparing to leave for COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, I was being asked whether "COP" was short for Copenhagen. Soon after my return, at Thanksgiving dinner, I was being asked how the Conference of Parties (COP27) had gone, whether certain influential leaders had attended, and why a purse had been opened for loss and damage with no indication of where the money would come from.

"How was the temptation of a fund enough to ensure climate justice for countries that barely contribute to climate change?" "It would be easier for us to move inland in larger countries if we must. But what about countries with nowhere inland to run?" "If we want to contribute our Christmas charity to a climate fund, what fund can we choose?" Climate change had gone from being scientific gibberish I spewed at the dinner table to everyone's truth. It is urgent and now.

The Honourable Maldivian Minister Aminath Shauna rightly and succinctly illustrated the urgency of climate action during her closing speech at COP27 in November 2022: "We have just 86 months to fix this." The Republic of Maldives is a collection of 1,192 small, low-lying coral islands. 26 of these are natural coral atolls and 194 are inhabited. Approximately 80% of the islands are lower than one meter above sea level. For the Maldives, climate change poses a devastating and existential threat. To quote Minister Shauna for CNBC, "There's no higher ground for us... it's just us, it's just our islands and the sea." (1)

However, this is not a story unique to Maldives. This story embraces all Small Island Developing States (SIDS)--notwithstanding the threat to freshwater resources, which is perpetuated by salt-water intrusion in the fresh underground water present in small pockets across small islands.

In the short term, island states are vulnerable to gradual sea-level rise and inundation. These factors will exacerbate issues of beach erosion that already impact low-lying areas. The coral reefs that surround island states are threatened by warming seawater and pollution from anthropogenic, or human in origin, sources. The impending impacts on both tourism and the fishing industry are of great concern to these small economies, further impacting the livelihood of local and indigenous peoples. For example, in Fiji, a loss of Indigenous Fishing Knowledge (IFK) as transmitted verbally across generations could erode sustainable fishing practices maintained over time. (2) Finally, given the existential nature of the climate threat, SIDS confront a myriad of non-economic losses (3) across their culture, heritage, and homeland.

This piece will address what the COP for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is and give a brief introduction of the stakeholders involved in this process. It will then provide a short history of Loss and Damage. The piece will then contextualise the Loss and Damage Fund that emerged from COP27 in November 2022. Finally, it will bring forward the importance of Loss and Damage to the conversation around Climate Justice.

WHAT IS A COP?

COP was originally designed to be an inclusive process, enabling a variety of actors to participate in global climate negotiations. More formally, it is the "supreme decision-making body of the Convention." All states that are party to the UNFCCC are represented at annual COP meetings. The two-week-long event allows all members of the convention to review and revise any decisions made at the COP. Consequently, it allows these members to determine the process of the implementation of the decisions that are adopted.

During a training conversation, a manager of mine at the International Peace Institute described a COP as a "two-week long affair that is nothing short of a 3-ring circus," as illustrated in Figure 1. The Blue Zone is where the negotiations happen. Situated behind a security checkpoint, it requires a special badge to enter. It holds the official plenary space, rooms where negotiation are held, office space, and a section for side events. My manager always depicted it as "the backyard (i) of the circus where the Ringmaster makes all the decisions of how the circus should run."

Here, technical experts from each of the COP signatory nations gather for 15 to 20 hours per day to discuss the details of each of three treaties signed by nations. (4) These treaties, the COP, CMA, and CMP, delineate the discussions and administratively take place at the same time every year. In 2022, the 27th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC took place. This was staged alongside the Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 (CMP), its 17th meeting. The Conference of Parties to the Paris Agreement of 2015 (CMA), in its 4th meeting, was also held. (5)

The Green Zone is where civil society and businesses set up shop. A short distance from the Blue Zone, it typically features side events including exhibits, events, panels, cultural performances, and workshops; akin to the main stage of a circus. Usually, the proceedings are conducted by civil society organizations and indigenous groups, businesses, academia, youth, and artists. Finally, the outer ring is where the pressure to act and perform at COP originates. Global civil society gathers outside the COP space to help influence decision-makers. This may be attempted through demonstration and stunts, as well as more traditional forms of advocacy.

WHAT IS LOSS AND DAMAGE?

In October 2022, during an interview published on the UN Climate Action website, Adelle Thomas, lead author of the 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" (6) and the "Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5[degrees] C," (7) discussed the importance of "loss and damage" before the upcoming COP27. While there is no agreed-upon definition of Loss and Damage within the UNFCCC, Thomas defined loss and damage as "the negative impacts of climate change that occur despite, or in the absence of, mitigation and adaptation." (8)

To simplify, anthropogenic climate change--in addition to extreme, intense weather events--is causing irreversible harm to both human and natural ecosystems, the impact of which is transboundary in nature. Loss and Damage further encompasses slow-onset events as described above, such as sea level rise, ocean acidification, salinization, forest and land degradation, loss of biodiversity, and desertification. Often, the severity of these impacts means that measures for mitigation and adaptation cannot prevent the economic and non-economic destruction that come from the damage and the ensuing loss.

We face a unique moment in history, where we have encountered a combination of unprecedented and interconnected crises. First, the cost crisis, which...