As observed and predicted losses and damages from climate change impacts grow increasingly severe, calls for transformation as a response to long-term climate change have become more frequent. Transformational approaches have also been integrated into the global climate change regime under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as part of the workplan of the Executive Committee guiding the implementation of the Warsaw international mechanism, the oversight body on loss and damage. However, there has as yet been no attempt to define what is meant by transformation in the context of loss and damage. This paper attempts to clarify the burgeoning academic and policy literature by positing three types of transformation as a response to loss and damage: transformation as adaptation (an intensification of dominant socio-ecological relationships), transformation as extension (when the limits of established adaptive capacity are reached) and transformation as liberation (adopting development pathways that address the root causes of vulnerability). Transformation as liberation is proposed as a deeper change to social-technological systems to avoid and minimize loss and damage in ways that enhance social justice and sustainability. To provide the kind of information decision makers need to plan and implement transformation as liberation, more research is needed on how to plan in a way that ensures the most equitable outcomes.
Roberts, E; Pelling, M
Loss and damage: an opportunity for transformation?
The Third Pillar of International Climate Change Policy