Non-Economic Losses

Strategic Workstream on Non-Economic Losses
Expert Group on Non-Economic Losses

Strategic workstream (b) of the current five-year workplan of the Warsaw International Mechanism Executive Committee (WIM ExCom) focuses on enhancing cooperation and facilitation in relation to non-economic losses (NELs).

Non-economic losses refer to a broad range of losses that are not easily quantifiable in financial terms or commonly traded in markets. These losses are additional to the loss of property, assets, infrastructure, or agricultural production and revenue that can result from the impacts of the adverse effects of climate change. Non-economic losses may affect individuals (e.g. loss of life, health, or mobility), society (e.g. loss of territory, cultural heritage, indigenous or local knowledge, or societal or cultural identity) or the environment (e.g. loss of biodiversity or ecosystem services).

Work facilitated by WIM ExCom on this workstream

The WIM ExCom has been undertaking a range of activities, including under strategic workstream (b) of its five-year rolling workplan.

The Expert Group on Non-Economic Losses helps execute the work of the WIM ExCom in guiding the implementation of the Warsaw International Mechanism in an advisory role.

Resources under the workstream on non-economic losses

Knowledge products

Technical paper on non-economic losses: featuring loss of territory and habitability, ecosystem services and biodiversity, and cultural heritage
Non-economic losses in the context of the work programme on loss and damage: 2013 technical paper and synopsis.

Awareness-raising activities

Side event on non-economic losses (18 May 2016, World Conference Centre Bonn): As part of the awareness raising of the nature and extent of non-economic losses, the Executive Committee organized the side event Shining the Light on Non-economic Losses Challenges, Risks and Lessons Learned for Addressing Them during the 44th session of the subsidiary bodies. The summary note of the side event can be found here. In the lead up to the side event, a photo campaign took place on 16-18 May 2016 for raising awareness of the issues related to non-economic losses, posing the question What do non-economic losses mean to you. A total of 65 people participated, representing a wide range of stakeholders from around the world (see image 1 and image 2).
SB60 side event - Learning from countries and communities responding to non-economic loss and damage: Implementation updates by the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage Executive Committee, 4 June 2024: the Committee organized this event to facilitate the exchange of good practices for responding to non-economic losses. The discussions informed the preparation of the technical paper on non-economic losses, published in November 2024. The event brought together Parties, academics and other non-Party stakeholders to discuss approaches being taken by different countries to addressing non-economic losses, how the research community is assessing the cascading effects of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, the importance of leveraging the experience and skills of Indigenous communities for understanding the full extent and scale of losses, and how international policies relevant to loss and damage can be translated into local practices.

Do you want to find out more about approaches concerning non-economic losses?
Explore the latest submissions to inform the development of the knowledge product by the NELs Expert Group.

The work of the Expert Group on Non-Economic Losses supports strategic workstream (b) of the five-year rolling workplan of the Warsaw International Mechanism Executive Committee (WIM ExCom), which aims to enhance cooperation and facilitation in relation to non-economic losses.

Establishment of the Expert Group on Non-Economic Losses

The COP at its twentieth session in 2014, decided that the WIM ExCom may establish expert groups, subcommittees, panels, thematic advisory groups or task-focused ad hoc working groups to help execute the work of the ExCom in guiding the implementation of the Warsaw International Mechanism, as appropriate, in an advisory role, and that report to the ExCom (Decision 2/CP.20, para 8). ExCom 12 (2020) adopted the terms of reference for the Expert Group on Non-economic losses, and the group held its first meeting in 2021.

Plan of Action

The NELs expert group is currently implementing its second Plan of Action (2025–2027), which was endorsed by the WIM ExCom at ExCom 23 (2025). This PoA identifies priority actions that support the implementation of the WIM ExCom’s work related to non-economic losses. Outputs under this PoA are intended to strengthen knowledge on NELs among policymakers and practitioners to better understand and assess non-economic losses on the ground, and to learn about available tools and approaches to respond to them.

The four desired impacts of the PoA are as follows:

Increased consideration of the cascading impacts of NELs in policymaking and planning processes;
Enhanced engagement of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities affected by NELs;
Increased awareness and understanding of NELs and effective ways to respond to them; and
Increased coordination, coherence, and synergy across the work of the WIM ExCom.

The range of activities in the PoA includes:

Identifying knowledge needs and gaps related to responding to non-economic losses by conducting consultations with key stakeholders,
Developing tailored knowledge products to meet those needs, and
Carrying out awareness-raising initiatives for targeted audiences through the creation of accessible, user-friendly outputs.

The NELs expert group plans to involve Santiago network members and country representatives in carrying out some of these activities to ensure alignment with knowledge needs. The group will also collaborate with the Facilitative Working Group of Local Communities and Indigenous People Platform in undertaking its activities that engage Indigenous Peoples in the global narrative on non-economic losses.

Do you want to find out more about approaches concerning non-economic losses? Explore the latest submissions to inform the development of the knowledge product by the NELs Expert Group.

Do you want to find out more about approaches concerning non-economic losses?
Explore the latest submissions to inform the development of the knowledge product by the NELs Expert Group.