Among the devasting consequences of climate change, the spotlight is often on the things we can put a price on, such as damage to infrastructure and property or the destruction of crops by a hurricane. However, climate hazards also threaten to cause a wide range of intangible impacts around the globe. For example, in Small Islands Developing States, rising sea levels put communities at risk of losing not only their lands and livelihoods, but also their cultural heritage, identity, and even language.
In other words, there are aspects of human life that cannot be considered as material goods that can be quantified financially. Additionally, any attempt to put a monetary value on the loss of life or human health raises serious ethical questions. Although the Alliance of Small Island States has been at the forefront of raising these issues since the 1990s, the concept of non-economic loss and damage (NELD) only emerged relatively recently as a policy issue under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The 2012 UN Climate Conference (COP18) in Doha formally mentioned NELD for the first time and is considered a milestone in recognizing the need to address this otherwise overlooked reality. Since then, NELD has been included in the Warsaw International Mechanism for loss and damage and the Paris Agreement. However, there still is a lack of consensus on how to define and evaluate NELD. A comprehensive approach to address and compensate for these impacts of climate change is even further off.
To help move the debate forward, Franciscans International co-organized a side-event during the 56th Session of the UN Human Rights Council to explore the ethical and human rights dimensions of NELD. This discussion, which brought together the new UN Special Rapporteur on climate change, human rights experts, and grassroots representatives was part of ongoing efforts by civil society to make this issue an integral part of the UN deliberations on climate change.
A blurry distinction
One of the common threads throughout the event was the complexity of the issue. The distinction between non-economic and economic losses and damages can sometimes be blurry and one can spill over to the other. For example, damage to an ecosystem due to climate change would be considered a non-economic loss, while the loss of food deriving from it would be economic. As Kira Vinke from the Climate Unit of the German Council on Foreign Relations explained: “The non-economic losses and damages are the root causes of other losses that may appear more pressing. However, if we are not able to address these non-economic losses and damages, we won’t be able to solve the cascading crisis that emanates from them.”
These challenges are already affecting many of the communities we work with at Franciscans International. For example, rural areas in Central America have been hit with prolonged droughts and extreme weather events. Subsequent food shortages combined with other economic factors continue to fuel displacement. “Non-economic loss and damage may include various dimensions of human mobility – namely, displacement, loss of territory, loss of cultural heritage, or loss of local knowledge,” said Ana Victoria López, who represented the Franciscan Network for Migrants during the Human Rights Council.
Bridging the gap
Despite its relevance and urgency, the concept of non-economic loss and damage is still far from being fully operationalized in policies to mitigate the damage caused by climate change. The Loss and Damage Fund, established in 2022 in line with the Paris Agreement, is supposed to help compensate developing countries for the negative impacts of climate change. However, with financing lacking, the fund currently covers less than one percent of the estimated annual costs. It is still unclear whether the fund will effectively cover NELD.
However, as Rina Kuusipalo, representing the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated during the event, “The determination of value is indeed more difficult for those interests that are not subject to market transactions, such as loss of loved ones […] but the fact that these are hard to measure or estimate by money standards does not make them less real and there is no reason why the injured person should not be compensated”.
Central to the discussion of NELD are the dignity of the human person and the protection of the environment. Through this lens, the losses of people are not reduced to economic ones – social and psychological impacts are taken into account, drawing a broader image of what it means to be human.
Next steps
The event also highlighted the importance of faith-based organizations in addressing NELD because of their deep and often longstanding connections with affected communities. The proximity is essential both to comprehend the debt of their losses fully and to understand how the lack of financing and adaptative measures are impacting lives. Elena Cedillo, representing the Geneva Interfaith Forum that includes FI, also stressed that these organizations can provide a sense of belonging and community that is essential during times of crisis.
One way that FI will take up this role is by raising NELD at the upcoming COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. There, as well as through other UN mechanisms, we will continue to advocate for a human rights-based approach to economic and non-economic loss and damage, emphasizing the importance of capturing all their aspects – including those that are not easily quantifiable but are critical to the well-being, resilience, and dignity of people.