University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) - Research portal
Gewählte Master / Diploma Thesis:
Mrinalini Cariappa
(2020):
"Loss and Damage" in the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C
A Qualitative Content Analysis.
Master / Diploma Thesis - Institut für Bodenphysik und landeskulturelle Wasserwirtschaft,
BOKU-Universität für Bodenkultur,
pp 115.
UB BOKU
obvsg
FullText
- Abstract:
- Sea level rise drowning islands in the Pacific, heatwaves sweeping over parts of Asia and Africa, and extreme weather events wreaking havoc across the globe. Even if we limit global warming to 1.5°C, regions around the world will still face drastic changes to their environment. Scientists refer to Loss and Damage (L&D) as the residual impacts of climate change that the world will experience due to the slow pace of mitigation measures, limited or inadequate adaptation, and the overstepping of adaptation limits. Being a relatively new concept, L&D remains undefined and understated in the global arena of climate politics. The aim of this thesis is to examine the extent of L&D arising under two different climate change mitigation scenarios: a 1.5 °C and a 2 °C increase in global mean temperatures at the end of the century, compared to pre-industrial levels. The thesis draws on the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: it analyses the findings in the report through the lens of ‘Loss and Damage’, that is, it analyses the impacts of slow-onset and extreme weather events, and the ensuing economic and non-economic losses and damages, by geographic region to the extent possible. Further, I conduct text analytics to understand the relationship of the terms, ‘Loss’, ‘Damage’, ‘1.5°C’, ‘2°C’ with terms relevant to impact sectors. Lastly, I use an integrated environmental assessment framework to explore cause-effect interactions that result in losses and damages in Small Island Developing States in the Pacific. The analysis sheds light on often forgotten connections, one being that non-economic losses are far more important in developing countries, yet because of their very nature, they go unreported, thus masking the actual impacts of climate change in developing countries. The findings of this thesis underline the need for an assessment framework that effectively accounts for the full extent of non-economic L&D.
- Beurteilende(r): Loiskandl Willibald
- 1.Mitwirkender: Melcher Andreas