Loss and Damage as a Third Pillar of Climate Action
On March 17th, Adapt Lock-in researcher Dr. Lisanne Groen (Open University of the Netherlands) acted as discussant at a webinar organised by the American University in Washington D.C. on ‘Loss and Damage as the Third Pillar of Climate Action’.
At the webinar, IPCC author Dr. Adelle Thomas from the University of the Bahamas & Climate Analytics shared with the online audience how loss and damage as a result of climate change has developed as a topic in the international climate change negotiations. This issue is being pushed by the Alliance Of Small Island States (AOSIS) in particular as well as developing countries as they struggle to put in place national-level policies on the topic.
Dr. Lisanne Groen brought in an academic perspective in her response to Dr. Thomas’ presentation, highlighting some lessons learnt from the Adapt Lock-in project on the Dutch approach to climate change adaptation, which focuses on infrastructure-based defence in response to sea level rise.
Kelly Crawford from the Washington D.C. Department of Energy & Environment added a policymaking perspective, highlighting some climate change policy initiatives she is currently working on.
The webinar recording is available HERE.
This was the third event from the webinar series “Ideas, Interests, Institutions, and Nation-state Climate Politics: Mitigators, Adapters, and Mitigator-Adapters.” This webinar charts the development of loss and damage policy within the UNFCCC and shows how slow progress at the international scale has resulted in limited – but critically needed – national policies focused on loss and damage, particularly in the Global South. Led by Adelle Thomas, Climate Analytics/University of The Bahamas. Discussants: Kelly Crawford, Assistant Director, Washington DC Department of Energy & Environment and Lisanne Groen, Open Universiteit, Department of Environmental Sciences and Institute for European Studies, Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit, Brussels.
