Loss and Damage Estimation for Extreme Weather Events: State of the Practice

Abstract

Extreme weather, climate-induced events that are episodic (e.g., hurricane, heatwave) or chronic (e.g., sea-level rise, temperature change) in nature, is occurring with increasing frequency and severity. This places a growing and time-sensitive need on the development and implementation of adaptation policies and practices. To motivate adaptive behavior, however, requires the ability to deliver improved risk-informed decision-making capability. At the crux of this challenge is the provision of full and accurate loss and damage accounting of the overall impact of an extreme weather event, enabling the business case to be made for adaptation investment. We define loss and damage as the manifestation of impacts associated with extreme weather that negatively affect human and natural systems. Progress in the development of adequate loss and damage accounting has been hampered by issues, such as discrepancies in conceptual frameworks, problems associated with data quantity and quality, and lack of standardized analysis methodologies. In this paper, we have discussed the conceptual basis for measuring loss and damage, reviewed the state of loss and damage data collection and modeling, and offered a narrative on the future direction of the practice.

A Framework To Estimate Loss And Damage (L&D) To Floods In a Changing Climate, Using Capital-Based Approach

“…DaLA and PDNA can capture the full range of disaster impacts till post-disaster, recognizing that impacts aftermath of the disaster have developmental and economic implications (Doktycz & Abkowitz, 2019). However, some of the major limitations of such frameworks are: (i) inadequate data on various indicators, for baseline situation; (ii) difficulty in replication of social sector assessments, due to their contextual nature; (iii) more attention to infrastructure losses due to disaster; and (iii) assessments only limited to sudden onset events, rather than slow-onset ones.…”

“…physical, social, and environmental, that a region is challenged with, after a disaster. Although Hazus-MH provides us a comprehensive view of L&D, with its physical and social parameters, it is limited to sudden onset extreme events, and questions the validity of the impact estimation results (Doktycz & Abkowitz, 2019). Other methodologies, discussed in Section 3.5, assess the impacts of disaster on a macroeconomic scale.…”

Loss and damage from climate change and implicit assumptions of sustainable development

“…This research highlights the centrality of monetary metrics and the reliance on economic choice and cost-benefit analysis in deciding how to handle L&D. Since different forms of capital are assumed to be substitutable with each other within weak sustainability, exchange value is utilized as a general equivalent between various kinds of capital, and addressing L&D focuses on the "replacement value" of lost or damaged capital (Lassa et al 2016;Brown et al 2018;Zaidi 2018;Mace and Verheyen 2016). Much of the empirical literature in this cluster draws on existing damage databases to calculate L&D (e.g., NatCatService, Desinventar, EM-DAT) (Tiepolo et al 2018;Doktycz and Abkowitz 2019). The standard criteria in these databases include number of people affected, number of people killed, and monetary damages accrued to infrastructure, property, and other assets (Wirtz et al 2014).…”

Built Infrastructure Conditions Mediate the Relationship between Stakeholders Attributes and Flood Damage: An Empirical Case Study

“…Tangible flood damage has been measured by socio-economic loss, including death, injury, homelessness, impact on GRP, and diseases [39,40]. The built environment loss includes structural damage to buildings, roads and bridges, contents of buildings, loss of other infrastructure, and debris removal [41,42].…”