Extreme weather events such as the massive landslides in Wayanad in Kerala and Sichuan Province of China and the rest of Asia-Pacific will set up the backdrop for discussions on loss and damage for the Conference of Parties (COP 29) scheduled to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, later this year.
COP 29 provides an important opportunity to discuss four priority areas of institutionalising a synergistic financing framework, facilitation of transformative adaptation, development of technology ecosystems to avert disasters and rollout of resilient infrastructure and infrastructure for resilience, says Sanjay Srivastava, Chief, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), at UN-ESCAP.
Tech ecosystems
In certain context of specific vulnerabilities, tech ecosystems can avert loss and damage.For instance,the Amrita Centre for Wireless Networks and Applications had deployed AI-enabled wireless sensor network for landslide monitoring and early warning in Munnar, Kerala.
By seamlessly integrating meteorological, geological, and hydrological data through an IoT framework, the system delivers timely and reliable early warnings, Srivastava pointed out.
“Barely two weeks before the deadly Wayanad landslides, there were a number of landslides 300 km to the South in Munnar. The scale was much lower but another reason they did not cause much damage was because they were predicted, allowing for pre-emptive action, including evacuation of at-risk populations,” Srivastava explained to businessline in an email conversation.
Loss and Damage
This chain of recent extreme weather events unfolding in the region underscore escalating complexity of climate-related risks with compounding and cascading impacts on vulnerable populations and economies. The key question is how to avert, minimise and address loss and damage, he said.
Avoided loss and damagesrefers to impacts that have or could be averted or minimised through climate change mitigation, adaptation and/or DRR measures.
Unavoided loss and damages are impacts that could not or have not been avoided due to resource and capacity constraints but for which avoidance options exist. Unavoidable loss and damages refer to impacts that go beyond existing adaptation and mitigation measures – as in irreversible impacts of glacier melt and sea-level rise.
Clear distinction
The Fund for responding to Loss and Damage set up at COP28 aims to enable grants-based support to developing countries to balance fiscal burden and climate vulnerability.
It addresses loss and damage caused by slow-onset events and extreme weather events. Bur there is a clear distinction between this Fund and financing climate change adaptation and DRR, Srivastava said.
“It is important to understand the mechanisms for addressing loss and damage and those that can help avert and minimise loss and damage, while appreciating that individual countries are using some financing mechanisms and instruments that address the common objectives,” he pointed out.
There is a global commitment to not only understand and address climate change challenges but also equip vulnerable communities with tools and resources to build resilience and adapt.