2024 was the first year that the global annual temperature exceeded 1.5°C, the limit beyond which, according to scientists, will be increasingly severe climate change impacts. This doesn’t mean we have breached the 1.5°C threshold set out in the Paris Agreement, but it underscores that the fact that global temperatures are rising beyond what humans have ever experienced.
WWF’s Sandeep Chamling Rai says, “With every fraction of a degree of warming, the impacts of climate change will become more frequent and more intense, and adaptation will become that much harder and more expensive for people and nature. The capacity of humans and nature to adapt to climate impacts is not infinite, and when these tipping points are exceeded, loss and damage becomes irreversible.”
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Current national climate plans – known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs – are intended to be ‘roadmaps’ for addressing climate change by sharply reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience. But these plans are nowhere near ambitious enough to do that. The consequences are that climate risks are increasing, and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is escalating.
2025 is the last opportunity for countries to meet the global emissions reduction target of at least 43% by 2030, and the last time national climate plans will be presented before this significant deadline.
“Anchoring losses and damages in NDCs can provide the necessary plans and actions to safeguard people and nature. It can provide countries with a more comprehensive climate response, and ensure that the most vulnerable communities can be assisted,” he says.
Countries can take four simple steps to ensure that Loss and Damage is effectively reflected in their plans, says Chamling Rai.
First, countries must define loss and damage in the national context. It is important for countries to include a definition of loss and damage in their national context in their NDC.
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Second, countries must describe the specific losses and damages that are already happening. It is also recommended that projected losses and damages related to different sectors or geographies based on different greenhouse gas emission and temperature-rise
scenarios be included where possible.
Third, countries must highlight ongoing initiatives being undertaken to avert, minimize and address losses and damages. These may include institutional frameworks, policies, on-the-ground implementation and financing measures. It is also an opportunity to highlight how the lack of global ambition to finance mitigation and adaptation actions exacerbates country losses and damages.
Finally, countries must include specific contributions on loss and damage.
NOTE: Countries must update their climate plans and submit them to UN Climate Change by COP30, scheduled to be held in Belém, Brazil in November 2025.
READ OUR REPORT: Why Loss and Damage is essential for climate action in NDCs 3.0 to get more information on this issue.
NOTE – This article was originally published in panda and can be viewed here
