Loss and damage of climate change : recognition, obligation and legal consequences

In 1991, Vanuatu presented a proposal to address climate change-related loss and damage, particularly sea-level rise, in response to widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people. For more than thirty years since then, the international community has failed in its attempts to adequately cut greenhouse gas emissions to prevent and respond to climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and offer effective channels for redressing related harms. During the 27th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2022, UNFCCC parties finally agreed to set up financial resources, including an international fund, to respond to loss and damage and recognized the substantial gaps that remain in responding to associated economic and non-economic losses. The UN climate regime does not define ‘loss and damage,’ and to date there is no internationally agreed upon definition of the concept. To understand loss and damage, it is imperative to consider the correlations amongst mitigation, adaptability, and loss and damage. This article specifically investigates the international legal dimension of climate change-related loss and damage claims and addresses the central role of a human rights-based approach to climate action.