“Loss and Damage” and International Responsibility in the Framework of Climate Change Law

Today, climate change and its adverse effects - such as glacial retreat, sea-level rise, and desertification - are increasingly evident around the world. Such adverse effects may continue to occur despite the implementation of the climate change legal regime, namely: the obligations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 1992, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement. As a result, from the time of the 1992 Convention’s adoption, the issue of “loss and damage associated with the effects of climate change impacts" was emphasized by its member states, especially the developing countries. Despite the efforts to turn "loss and damage" into a basis for reparation and international responsibility/liability for climate change, this concept has taken on a special character. Consequently, international instruments and legal literatue on climate change are unclear about meaning of “loss and damage”. Furthermore, these terminological, legal and technical ambiguities overshadow its interaction with the international responsibility/liability system and make the current and future status of international responsibility for climate change controversial.