Loss and Damage: Elements for Successful Negotiations at COP 19 in Warsaw

The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change’s next Conference of the Parties, commonly known as a COP, begins Monday in Warsaw.  The COP 19 negotiating agenda calls for parties to establish institutional arrangements to address “loss and damage associated with the impacts of climate change in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.”

These negotiations could be contentious and emotional—and not surprisingly, given what is at stake.  Losses and damages under scenarios well below four degrees of warming could, over time, include the submergence of mega-cities, the collapse of major ecosystems, and the loss of entire island nations.  But the loss and damage (L&D) negotiations need to succeed for COP 19 to succeed—and for the global community to get on track to achieve an ambitious, effective, and equitable climate change agreement in 2015.

Loss and Damage: Elements for Successful Negotiations at COP 19 in Warsaw