What Is 'Loss and Damage' from Climate Change?

This guide from the World Resources Institute explains the concept of 'loss and damage' in the context of climate change, detailing the distinction between economic and non-economic losses, the history of UN negotiations, and the operationalization of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD).

• Loss and damage refers to climate change consequences that exceed the capacity of people to adapt, including cases where adaptation options exist but the necessary resources to access them are unavailable.
• Climate-related losses are categorized as economic, affecting market-traded resources like infrastructure and supply chains, or non-economic, involving intangible losses such as the death of family members, loss of cultural identity, and trauma from forced migration.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identifies 'soft' adaptation limits, where resources are lacking, and 'hard' limits, where avoiding intolerable risks is no longer possible. For example, 70% to 90% of tropical coral reefs are projected to die by mid-century even if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees C.
• The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) was operationalized in 2023 and is hosted by the World Bank, with the Philippines serving as the host country. As of April 2025, total pledges to the fund reach $768.4 million, though this is significantly lower than the estimated $580 billion vulnerable countries may need by 2030.
• To avoid legal liability and compensation claims from developed nations, the agreements at COP27 and COP28 explicitly state that loss and damage funding is based on 'cooperation and facilitation' rather than liability.
• Addressing loss and damage requires a 'mosaic of solutions' combining the FRLD with humanitarian aid, insurance, and innovative funding such as taxes on fossil fuel windfall profits, shipping, or air travel.
• Funding for loss and damage can support a variety of activities, including weather-indexed crop insurance, immediate humanitarian relief, the rebuilding of destroyed homes, and assistance for the relocation of permanently displaced populations.

APA

World Resources Institute (2025). What Is 'Loss and Damage' from Climate Change? https://www.wri.org/insights/loss-damage-climate-change

Chicago

World Resources Institute. What Is 'Loss and Damage' from Climate Change? 2025. https://www.wri.org/insights/loss-damage-climate-change.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=What Is 'Loss and Damage' from Climate Change? |date=5 May 2025 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/loss-damage-climate-change |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2025what, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{What Is 'Loss and Damage' from Climate Change?}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/loss-damage-climate-change}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }