In the word of climate change negotiations, loss and damage is arguably one of the most debated issues. In the last COP23 hosted by an island nation, Fiji (largely affected by the adverse effects of climate change), the conversation on the issue gathered more attention than ever.
Although a universally accepted concept of Loss and Damage does not exist; the term can be defined as the negative effects of climate variability and climate change that people have not been able to cope with or adapt to. "Loss' refers to the complete loss of lives or species etc; while 'damage' is something that can be repaired such as infrastructures. The main idea is that the countries which are most vulnerable to climate change are entitled to economic compensation from the polluter countries.
For a Least Developed country like Bangladesh, climate change can pose serious pressure for its development progress. Even though Bangladesh emits a small amount of carbon each year, it is one of the most seriously climate affected countries of the world. Each year we are slowly losing our land to sea level rise. The increased intensity of natural disaster is hard for the country to handle. The impact of climate change is only getting worse. In 2017, Bangladesh saw one of the biggest floods in its history. The number of tropical storms has also increased in past years. In an opinion piece, Dr. Saleemul Haque said, "When residents in the coastal district of Satkhira in Bangladesh were asked a decade ago, only 2 per cent of them said increased salinity caused by sea level rise was having an adverse effect on crop yields, livelihoods and their health. Today, over 80 per cent say they are affected." In this reality, it is imperative that we as a country rightfully demand support for facing the adverse impact of climate change.
"Loss and damage" has a long history of being neglected. Only in 2010, the words "loss and damage" appeared for the first time in the negotiating text of COP 16. Progress was made when in Warsaw COP 19, loss and damage got fully institutionalised into the UNFCCC through the "Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage (WIM)". However the progress since then has been slow. Even though "loss and damage" was mentioned in Article 8 of the Paris agreement, there was no provision for financial compensation. In 2016, the countries decided to work on a five-year-plan to address the slow onset impacts and migration. However, the financial part remained evasive.
At COP 23, the discussion on loss and damage has been heated. The donor countries, even those which are typically in favour of climate change negotiations are very uninterested in talking about loss and damage. Australia and the European Union were against including financial discussion in the negotiations of COP 23, saying that there is "insufficient statistical evidence" that extreme weather events such as typhoons are singularly caused by climate change. Switzerland and USA are also strongly opposed to loss and damage discussion.
But for countries like Bangladesh, the issue of loss and damage is an all important one. The compensation from the loss and damage can go a long way in combating climate change. In order to achieve that, we need to focus on scientific research that will support our demand at the global level. Technological support is just as important as financial support for countries like Bangladesh. Thus pressing for that is also as important as talking about compensation.
Luckily, there is solidarity among major parties of the climate change negotiation regarding "loss and damage". The Least Developed Countries and Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) are advocating that "loss and damage" can be a separate agenda of its own, with the WIM being a permanent body within the convention. The G77+China group has also adopted the same position as them. They are also advocating about introducing innovative forms of finance to fund loss and damage. Bangladesh is known all over the world as a leader of climate change negotiations. Thus, Bangladesh needs to raise its voice on this issue and ask for fulfilling its rightful demands to support its efforts to combat climate change.
Lam-ya Mostaque is a researcher working in the development sector.
lamya.mostaque@gmail.com