15 Observations on Disaster Displacement as Loss and Damage

PDD/IOM/IDMC

The impacts of the climate crisis are already being felt by vulnerable people, communities and societies and will only grow more acute and widespread as we are confronted with environmental shocks and stresses that exceed our efforts to adapt, reduce risk and build resilience. Minimizing and addressing the losses and damages that will be incurred due to climate change is an urgent, global concern and is becoming a priority for relevant actors and policy dialogues.

Despite the relevance of this topic, and the work that has already been carried out by national and international actors, there remain gaps in our understanding and knowledge of displacement in the context of the adverse effects of climate change. Some need to be addressed through improved coverage of disaster displacement and its impacts across time and space. Others relate to the lack of clarity, shared definitions, and universally-recognized approaches that characterize theoretical discussions and operational efforts in both the loss and damage and the human mobility domains. This document aims to provide some observations on some of these challenges and some recommendations on how to address them.

“15 Observations on Disaster Displacement as Loss & Damage” is the outcome of an expert panel discussion on “Disaster Displacement as Loss and Damage: Clarifying Concepts, Understanding Impacts”, organized by the Data and Knowledge Working Group (DKWG) of the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) as part of the Triple-D (Data, Disasters, Displacement) Webinar Series. The full recording of the webinar is available at: https://youtu.be/5F5ZeRDpNj4.

This document contributes to the PDD Project to Avert, Minimize and Address Disaster Displacement (PAMAD), which is generously supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).