Exploring a comprehensive loss and damage facility for African countries

The policy brief proposes a framework for national loss and damage facilities in Africa to manage climate-induced losses. It distinguishes between risk finance for avoidable/unavoided risks and curative finance for unavoidable risks, suggesting a diversified funding model including philanthropic funds, multilateral grants, and innovative levies. The author illustrates the need for such facilities through case studies of extreme weather in South Africa, Mozambique, and Malawi, as well as a slow-onset drought in Cape Town, highlighting gaps in current disaster response and the necessity of integrating knowledge development, resilience building, and formal compensation mechanisms.

• Africa is disproportionately affected by climate change despite contributing only 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions since the Industrial Revolution, which exacerbates existing poverty and inequalities.
• Loss and damage is categorized into a continuum of avoided, unavoided, and unavoidable risks; while some can be managed via adaptation, 'hard adaptation limits' create unavoidable risks that require curative finance.
• A comprehensive loss and damage facility should consist of four main components: knowledge and capacity development, resilience building, funding collection and allocation, and compensation/recognition for unavoidable loss.
• Risk financing mechanisms, such as catastrophe insurance, microinsurance, and catastrophe-linked bonds, are suitable for avoidable or unavoided losses, whereas curative finance (e.g., trust funds and impact investment) is necessary for unavoidable losses.
• Funding for these facilities could be sourced from a diverse array of channels, including philanthropic contributions, multilateral grants, and innovative sources like luxury carbon taxes, financial transaction taxes, and levies on fossil fuel majors.
• Case studies in South Africa, Mozambique, and Malawi reveal that current responses rely heavily on unreliable ex-post humanitarian aid and limited contingency finance, often hampered by a lack of reliable disaster risk databases and inadequate early-warning systems.

APA

Team, Z. (2022). Exploring a comprehensive loss and damage facility for African countries. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/policy/exploring-a-comprehensive-loss-and-damage-facility-for-african-countries/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. Exploring a comprehensive loss and damage facility for African countries. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2022. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/policy/exploring-a-comprehensive-loss-and-damage-facility-for-african-countries/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=Exploring a comprehensive loss and damage facility for African countries |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=9 November 2022 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/policy/exploring-a-comprehensive-loss-and-damage-facility-for-african-countries/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2022exploring, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{Exploring a comprehensive loss and damage facility for African countries}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/policy/exploring-a-comprehensive-loss-and-damage-facility-for-african-countries/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }