Communities and ecosystems around the world are experiencing unprecedented extreme weather events. Driven by climate change these shocks will worsen with every increment of global heating, exposing billions of people to catastrophic loss and damage — from loss of life, land, homes, income, opportunity and cultural identity, to damaged infrastructure, ecosystems, essential services and sustainable development.

Governments of vulnerable countries must prepare, respond and protect their people and ecosystems, but are hampered by a lack of guidance on how loss and damage should be addressed in practice, who should foot the bill, and a lack of technical support.

Loss and damage caused by climate change is mounting in countries and at-risk communities across the global South and must be addressed urgently and at scale. But we still lack consensus on what loss and damage means and how it can be tackled effectively in practice at national and local levels. In this briefing, we outline our understanding of the nature of loss and damage and the risks it poses to the people and places most vulnerable to climate impacts in least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS). Based on extensive research and consultation with stakeholders across the global South, we outline seven key features of loss and damage risk and suggest how policymakers and practitioners at national and sub-national levels and their international partners might address them in practice.