Non-economic losses brought on by the effects of climate change must become a more central part of global plans to tackle the problem, a panel of experts said.
The economic losses from extreme climate events are a mounting burden for governments worldwide, however they are generally only limited to quantifiable damage, such as to property, infrastructure, tourism and agricultural production.
Greater emphasis should be placed on the intangible and non-tradable losses to people and society, as well as the environment, a panel of specialists in the field said at an event hosted by London Climate Week on Thursday.
Sandeep Chamling Rai, a senior advisor on climate adaptation at WWF International, told the conference that it was time to shift the spotlight when discussing environmental policies.
“We’re talking about loss of life, health, human mobility, the loss of cultural heritage and of course the damage to biodiversity and ecosystem services”, he said.
“They’re not easy to quantify but they’re very important and should be factored into any solutions".
The UN estimates that climate change could drive an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030. Extreme weather events, including drought, desertification and rising sea-level already cause more than 20 million people to leave their homes each year.
While it is hard to quantify the non-economic losses I can assure you that they are just as important as the economic ones
Afsari Begum,
Practical Action Bangladesh
In March this year the United Nations established its first expert group on non-economic losses in a bid to raise awareness and collect available data on the issue. The environmental arm of the UN also warned that developing countries were facing adaptation costs of of up to $500 billion annually by 2050.
Adaptation is the reduction of communities' vulnerability to climate change through the increase in their ability to absorb the impacts.
Nature-based solutions - the use of the natural world to mitigate effects of climate change – have become increasingly popular and will be at the forefront of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.
The term also encompasses broad land use policies. In the UK, these are mainly concentrated on reforestation, new woodland planting and sustainable agriculture.
However, the panellists warned there is a risk that vulnerable and important segments of society may miss out on the benefits of any climate reversal plans if non-economic losses aren’t adequately factored in. These include the loss of cultural heritage sites as well as important knowledge and understanding of local ecosystems.
In Bangladesh, a country highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, locals who only a few years ago were cultivating and living off their own fruit and vegetables have now been forced off their land, drastically changing their way of living, said Afsari Begum of Practical Action Bangladesh.
“While it is hard to quantify the non-economic losses I can assure you that they are just as important as the economic losses,” said Ms Begum, who works with coastal communities in Bangladesh. “We need to pay the people who are already paying a high price.”
The issue of non-economic losses (NEL) is also relevant in the context of claiming damages and insurance.
“We need to look at NEL from a responsibility point of view and not just a liability and insurance point of view because it isn’t enough to just look at it that way,” said Mr Rai.
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Specs%20
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Lexus LX700h specs
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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Details
Through Her Lens: The stories behind the photography of Eva Sereny
Forewords by Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling, ACC Art Books
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
