At the Cancun Climate Change Conference, the Conference of the Parties (COP) recognized the need to strengthen international cooperation and expertise in order to understand and reduce loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including impacts related to extreme weather events and slow onset events.

In this context, the COP established a work programme in order to consider approaches to address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change (decision 1/CP.16, paragraphs 25-29), as part of the Cancun Adaptation Framework. 

The COP, by the same decision, requested the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI):

• To agree on activities to be undertaken under the work programme;
• To make recommendations on loss and damage to the COP for its consideration at COP 18.

At the thirty-fifth session of the SBI (27 November to 3 December 2011) Parties considered further activities to be undertaken in the period up to COP 18 based on the submissions and a synthesis report on views and information on the thematic areas to be addressed in the implementation of the work programme, and the outcomes of the workshop on risk management approaches to the adverse effects of climate change. This information provided useful input into the implementation of the work programme on loss and damage. Parties agreed:

• To address issues related to the thematic area 1 at the expert meeting to be held before SBI 36 (May 2012);
• To prepare a technical paper to feed into the expert meeting as mentioned above;
• To organize four expert meetings, three at the regional level and one for small island developing States before SBI 37 (December 2012), to address issues related to the thematic area 2;
• To prepare a technical paper on slow onset events, taking into consideration the outcomes of the regional expert meetings as mentioned above;
• To conduct a literature review of existing information and case studies on the topics in the context of the thematic area 2;
• To invite Parties and relevant organizations and other stakeholders to submit views and information on the possible elements to be included in the recommendations on loss and damage in accordance with decision 1/CP.16.

Parties also invited organizations to provide financial and technical support for the implementation of the activities of the work programme.

For additional details see the  decision adopted by the COP at its 17th session.

The information on the past conclusions is available here.

Views and information on elements to be included in the work programme on loss and damage. (For submissions by Parties and IGOs, see FCCC/SBI/2011/MISC.1.  For submissions by NGOs, click here.)