Re-conceptualising climate change-driven 'loss and damage'

This article reviews loss-and-damage scholarship, to explore the potential impact of separating 'loss' and 'damage', both in the context of research and policy. A key result presented in the article is that treating 'loss' and 'damage' separately would be most beneficial with regard to loss, in that the political hurdles that currently mar the loss-and-damage debate mainly derive from disagreement over financing responsibilities with regard to damages, which unduly slows progress on the urgent task of understanding how to manage loss. In this context, the article provides elements for separate definitions of 'loss' and 'damage', and suggests a possible categorisation of loss-and-damage scholarship.