19 July 2012: Germanwatch launched a website addressing loss and damage caused by climate change, aiming to support Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in calling for action on the issue. The topic is increasingly relevant for LDCs, Germanwatch notes, as agreement to deliver mitigation commitments in line with staying below 2°C/1.5°C has not been yet achieved.

The website is part of the “Loss and Damage in Vulnerable Countries Initiative,” which runs from February 2012 through March 2013 with support from the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN). The Initiative is run by a consortium consisting of: Germanwatch, the UN University-Institute for Environmental and Human Security (UNU-EHS), the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh (ICCCAD) and Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII).

Activities on loss and damage will be undertaken in four key areas: LDC strategic support, policy setting and capacity building; conceptual framing, idea and understanding; research and case studies on loss and damage in LDCs; and addressing loss and damage in a national context.

The new website features country studies and analysis of international negotiations, including: an analysis of the 36th session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (SBI 36) on loss and damage; a summary of the first regional expert meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 13-15 June 2012, in the context of the UNFCCC work programme; and an analysis of the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its relevance for the loss and damage debate.

To address the issue, the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the UNFCCC, held in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010, adopted a work programme on loss and damage under SBI. The work programme includes assessing countries’ exposure to loss and damage and exploring appropriate activities to address it. COP 17, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2011, further established concrete activities to be performed with a view to providing recommendations to COP 18, which scheduled to take place in Doha, Qatar, at the end of 2012, at which a decision on the issue is expected to be taken.

The following small island developing States (SIDS) currently are classified at LDCs: Haiti, Kiribati, Madagascar, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu. [Germanwatch Website on Loss and Damage]