sei-db-2016-loss-and-damage-4-traits-38d73b0848f7776c.pdf

This briefing note from the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the scientific and political complexities of 'loss and damage' within the UNFCCC framework. It analyzes four key traits—attributability, irreversibility, unavoidability, and intolerability—to clarify the gap between risk management approaches and calls for climate justice and compensation.

• Loss and damage is scientifically defined as 'residual impacts,' which occur when climate change impacts exceed the limits of what humans or natural systems can adapt to. In policy terms, it is often framed as the result of insufficient mitigation combined with inadequate adaptation.
• Attributing specific loss and damage to human-caused climate change is scientifically complex. While the IPCC considers it 'extremely likely' that human emissions caused observed warming, it expresses lower confidence in attributing specific extreme events or global river floods to anthropogenic change. Furthermore, long-term increases in economic losses are attributed with high confidence to the 'increasing exposure of people and economic assets' rather than just increased hazards.
• The document distinguishes between physically and socially irreversible impacts. Physical irreversibility is linked to 'tipping points' and 'regime shifts,' such as the melting of Arctic ice sheets. Social irreversibility occurs when disasters disrupt a society's core functions so severely that they cannot 'bounce back' even after physical repairs, often involving non-economic losses like cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge.
• Unavoidable impacts exist on a spectrum. 'Hard' limits to adaptation occur when physical thresholds are crossed, such as low-lying areas being submerged by sea-level rise. 'Soft' limits are human-caused and result from a lack of financial and technical support, or failures in governance and social injustice.
• The definition of 'intolerable' impacts is subjective and depends on social norms, personal values, and adaptive capacity. An equity perspective is necessary to ensure that poorer communities are not forced to tolerate worse conditions than wealthier ones, particularly as failure to limit warming to 1.5°C may lead to intolerable outcomes like the loss of entire island nations.
• There is a significant political divide within the UNFCCC regarding loss and damage. While the Paris Agreement's Article 8 recognizes the importance of addressing loss and damage, an accompanying decision explicitly states that this "does not involve or provide a basis for any liability or compensation," a point of contention for developing countries and NGOs seeking climate justice.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). sei-db-2016-loss-and-damage-4-traits-38d73b0848f7776c.pdf. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2016-Loss-and-damage-4-traits.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. sei-db-2016-loss-and-damage-4-traits-38d73b0848f7776c.pdf. n.d. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2016-Loss-and-damage-4-traits.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=sei-db-2016-loss-and-damage-4-traits-38d73b0848f7776c.pdf |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2016-Loss-and-damage-4-traits.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendseidb2016lossanddamage4traits38d73b0848f7776cpdf, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{sei-db-2016-loss-and-damage-4-traits-38d73b0848f7776c.pdf}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2016-Loss-and-damage-4-traits.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }