Options for adaptation and loss and damage in a 2015 climate agreement

This working paper is part of a series of ACT 2015 research on key elements of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. It explores some of the key issues relating to adaptation and Loss and Damage (L&D) and outlines options for addressing them in the 2015 agreement. The aim of the paper is to identify the central questions and dilemmas concerning adaptation and L&D, and to elaborate on some proposed approaches that are already in circulation.

The paper begins with a short account of the current status of adaptation and L&D in the UNFCCC. It then goes on to identify and discuss some of the more contentious issues that complicate adaptation and L&D negotiations in the run-up to a 2015 climate agreement. These include: (i) whether adaptation should be a central element of the new agreement or part of a larger package of decisions; (ii) the desirability or otherwise of a global adaptation goal and whether/how such a goal should be linked to different levels of mitigation ambition/ temperature rise; (iii) the scope of adaptation activities and the role of the UNFCCC in relation to such activities; and (iv) whether or not adaptation and L&D should be combined under one governance arrangement.

The paper also discusses a number of cross-cutting issues that have serious implications for adaptation and L&D. These include linkages with external institutions and mainstreaming, and identify climate change as one of the development challenges that must be incorporated in the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction (DRR) to be finalised by March 2015, which is very much related to climate change risks and damages.

The Agreement on Climate Transformation 2015 (ACT 2015) consortium is a group of the world’s top climate experts from developing and developed countries that have come together to catalyze discussion and build momentum toward reaching a global climate agreement at the forthcoming UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit in 2015.