The issue of loss and damage (L&D) related to the impacts of climate change has been on the multilateral  negotiation  table  for  over  three decades. This issue was first raised by Vanuatu even  before  the  United  National  Framework Convention  on  Climate  Change  (UNFCCC)  was established, and developing countries, especially Least  Developed  Countries  (LDCs)  and  Small Island  Developing  States  (SIDS),  have  been pushing for it ever since.

Although the term “loss and damage” appeared in an outcome document of UNFCCC negotiations as early as 2007, it gained traction during COP19 in 2013, when Parties established the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM). Since then, developing country Parties have called for a dedicated financing facility to avert, minimize, and address climate-induced L&D, which was operationalized at COP28 in 2023.

Despite collective global action on mitigation and adaptation, it is clear from the recent assessment reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that global average temperatures have already increased by 1.1 ℃ , and even if effective actions are taken to limit global warming to 1.5 ℃ , L&D caused by climate change is no longer completely preventable, as there is already a “locked-in” level of warming with unavoidable consequences.

People and communities are already facing the real-life consequences of extreme weather events and slow-onset processes, including sea level rise, temperature rise, melting glaciers, floods, storms, unpredictable rainfall patterns, and droughts, causing L&D to natural ecosystems as well as the lives and livelihoods of millions across the world.

South Asia is among the regions that are hardest hit by the impacts of climate change, even though the countries in it bear little responsibility for the ongoing global warming and climate change. While developed countries often have resources and technology to cope with and adapt to these impacts, developing countries are exposed to L&D that is beyond their institutional, technical, and financial capacities to respond.

This case study seeks to explore transboundary aspects of L&D in South Asia resulting from slow- onset processes and extreme climate events. Within the context of climate change, its impacts, and vulnerabilities in the region, it takes a deep dive into the challenges experienced by different stakeholders due to transboundary L&D, such as river systems, sea level rise, and climate-related human mobility.