Loss and damage
Harm associated with climate impacts that goes beyond or occurs despite mitigation and adaptation responses.
Example
It can include economic losses and damage to culture or ecosystems.
The catch
The term's policy use and financing arrangements need context.
Related terms
Ecosystem, 1.5°C goal, Carbon pricing, Carbon tax, Climate justice, Conference of the Parties
In more depth
Loss and damage, explained.
Loss and damage names the climate harm that remains after adaptation has done what it can. The hardest part to handle is non-economic loss, such as lives, burial grounds or a way of life, which no payment can restore. The literature also distinguishes sudden events like storms from slow-onset change like sea-level rise, which can make places uninhabitable over decades.
The Paris Agreement gives the issue its own article, yet the decision adopting the agreement states that this provides no basis for liability or compensation. Governments later agreed to set up a dedicated fund at the UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh. When you use the term, say whether you mean the harm itself, the negotiating agenda or that fund, and keep it separate from adaptation finance. Debates over responsibility tie it closely to climate justice.