27 July 2012: The UNFCCC Secretariat organized a regional expert meeting to discuss the full range of approaches and tools to address the risks of loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change and the relative cost-effectiveness of these. The meeting focused on the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, and included discussion of impacts related to extreme weather events and slow onset events.

The meeting on a range of approaches to address loss and damage took place in Mexico City, Mexico, from 25-27 July 2012. It was one of four regional expert meetings held under the thematic area on approaches to address loss and damage of the work programme on loss and damage established under the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). The meeting intended to provide a basis for discussions to be held at the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 18) to the UNFCCC to be held in Doha, Qatar, at the end of 2012.

Participants heard keynote presentations and held discussion on: the full range of approaches and tools that can be used to address risk; their relative cost-effectiveness; the foundational resource requirements for strategies and tools to be effectively applied; and the tailoring of risk management approaches to national contexts.

Participants felt that practical examples of loss and damage approaches are dominated by assessments and measures related to direct impacts of extreme events. Noting that slow-onset events and indirect impacts are not well defined and not sufficiently addressed, they stressed the need to clarify the term slow-onset event.

Parties further discussed, among other issues: risk reduction, risk retention, risk transfer and management of slow-onset changes; current initiatives and gaps in approaches and knowledge; non-economic loss and damages; and concrete solutions, including disaster response and insurance-based approaches. [IISD RS Sources] [Meeting Website]