By Dr. Puja Sawhney, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan. (Southasiadisasters.net issue No. 97, September 2013)

The “International Conference on Adaptation and Loss and Damage Associated with Climate Change in the Asia Pacific: Integrating Scientific Aspect” was held on 30–31 August 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand”. The conference aimed to address key questions related to the loss and damage associated with climate change to promote a shared understanding of the issue among various stakeholders including what are the limits and barriers to adaptation?; what is the scientific understanding of adaptation and loss and damage?; what challenges and opportunities lie ahead in governing adaptation from viewpoint of risk management?; what adaptation and loss and damage related lessons can we learn from the recent major climatic events?; what are slow onset impacts of climate change and how tackle with them?; and what are the technical, institutional and capacity measures required to deal with adaptation and loss and damage?

The conference saw the participation of over 100 scientists and climate change practitioners from 24 countries. The conference participants exchanged scientific knowledge and experience from disaster management and climate change adaptation that respond to climate change impacts. The exchange sought to provide useful information to address loss and damage based on current scientific understanding. The conference also provided an important platform for scientists and practitioners to begin developing appropriate pathways to understand loss and damage. Other key issues participants discussed included the role of financial tools in managing loss and damage, the lessons on loss and damage from recent extreme weather events in Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan etc., and the implications of loss and damage to planning and implementing community-based adaptation. In terms of scientific understanding, the ensuing discussions highlighted the need for greater efforts to resolve issues related to the resolution of the current global climate models, scale issues related to predicting extreme events particularly that of multi-variable extreme events, attribution of changes in extremes and investments in data collection, archival and sharing so that the data shared can be used for shaping appropriate policy actions.

In conclusion, it was recognised that Climate Compatible Development is where the three areas of mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development intersect and that future work includes enhancing knowledge-sharing network activities by sharing and applying the cases of Bangladesh, which were introduced during the Conference, to other countries and regions through knowledge sharing network such as Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN) to effectively utilise the funding made available from sources such as Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research.

The international conference was funded by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and jointly organised by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN), the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP-ROAP), and other partners.

For more information: www.asiapacificadapt.net/loss-and-damage-2013

Photo caption: International Conference on Adaptation and Loss and Damage Associated with Climate Change in the Asia Pacific, August 30–31, 2013, Bangkok, Thailand.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of AIDMI.