Climate Justice for All - The Case of Loss & Damage

Climate change is not a problem of the distant future. Many countries already suffer tremendously from the negative impacts of global warming and the impacts of natural disasters and extreme weather events are well beyond what they can adapt to. The year 2017 has made it especially clear that communities at the frontlines of climate change are already facing loss & damage at a large scale. These events do not only threaten their livelihoods and their physical and economic well-being, but they also pose a significant problem to a country’s development. Therefore, approaches on how to deal with loss & damage needs to be at the center of discussions around achieving climate justice for all. At the level of international politics, climate change related loss & damage has been discussed for over 20 years. In the past few years these discussions have gained momentum and have progressed, particularly within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, even though there has been progress, dealing with loss & damage remains a sensitive but nevertheless very important issue in international climate policy, especially when it comes to talking about finances.

The joint workshop by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Bread for the World aims at discussing the role of loss & damage within international climate policy and its importance in achieving climate justice for all.