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Publication Date
16 November 2023

Event attribution is ready to inform loss and damage negotiations

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Extreme weather event attribution — the identification of the role of anthropogenic climate change in weather events — has made substantial advances in the recent decade. Alongside these developments, the idea of a loss and damage fund has gained momentum as a way to provide funding for climate change impacts experienced in vulnerable countries. Here, we argue that much of the information available from extreme event attribution (EEA), although far from perfect, can already substantially inform loss and damage activities. The arguments against use of EEA in this context1 warrant close scrutiny as these objections may be used by some to justify further delay, with the consequence that vulnerable developing countries will continue to face significant loss and damage without assistance. The critics, we argue, not only miss what attribution can already supply, but also fail to conceive the extent and urgency of the demand for EEA information in the loss and damage context. 

Noy, Ilan, Michael Wehner, Dáithí Stone, Suzanne Rosier, Dave Frame, Kamoru Abiodun Lawal, and Rebecca Newman. 2023. “Event Attribution Is Ready To Inform Loss And Damage Negotiations”. Nature Climate Change 13 (12). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 1279-1281. doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01865-4.
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