The Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage invites submission of information on the best practices, challenges and lessons learned from existing financial instruments at all levels that address the risk of loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change.
These financial instruments and tools may include: comprehensive risk management capacity with risk pooling and transfer; catastrophe risk insurance; contingency finance; climate-themed bonds and their certification; catastrophe bonds; and financing approaches to making development climate resilient, among other innovative financial instruments and tools, both at micro level (direct tools) and meso and macro level (indirect tools).
In addition to the above, the information may also include those financial instruments in the context of social protection, risk reduction, preparedness, response and recovery, and those more broadly related to building resilience against loss and damage associated with extreme and slow onset events.
The information provided may further indicate how these instruments are designed and implemented to benefit vulnerable developing countries, vulnerable populations and the ecosystems that they depend on, how these instruments can address different types of loss and damage (including non-economic losses) and their socio-economic impacts, and what good practices and lesson learned on the application of these instruments, any gaps in existing financial instruments for addressing loss and damage, and opportunities to address these gaps.
The information gathered through this call for submission will, in part, enable the Executive Committee to disseminate information on financial instruments and tools to address loss and damage in order to encourage comprehensive risk management, and may also inform the other work of the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee looks forward to receiving relevant information at loss-damage(at)unfccc.int.
Background
The Conference of the Parties (COP), at its nineteenth session, established the Warsaw International Mechanism to address loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change through its three main functions: enhancing knowledge and understanding of comprehensive risk management approaches; strengthening dialogue, coordination, coherence and synergies among relevant stakeholders; and enhancing action and support, including finance, technology and capacity building.
The Executive Committee is mandated to guide the implementation of these functions. The COP, at its twentieth session, approved an initial two-year workplan of the Executive Committee (Workplan) and its operationalization was further emphasized in subsequent decision taken in Paris at COP21.
Action Area 7 of the Workplan, under which the submission is called for, aims to encourage comprehensive risk management by the diffusion of information related to financial instruments and tools that address the risks of loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change to facilitate finance in loss and damage situations in accordance with the policies of each developing country and region, taking into account the necessary national efforts to establish enabling environments.
Expected results of this Action Area, as envisioned by the COP, is to contribute to the improved understanding by public bilateral and multilateral institutions and funds, private financial institutions and developed and developing countries on the range of financial instruments and tools to enhance action and support, including finance, technology and capacity-building, to address loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change.
See submissions received to date under the spotlight.