Pacific Islands countries and territories (PICTs) are on the frontline of climate change, where rising sea levels, intensifying tropical cyclones, and coastal flooding threaten their very existence. Their geographic vulnerability and isolation, particularly the low-lying nature of atolls, exacerbates the devastating effects of climate change. This underscores the importance of addressing the irreversible impacts of Loss and Damage (L&D) - the harm caused by climate change that exceeds feasible adaptation.
Despite global commitments to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C, inadequate action has left many Pacific islands facing an increasingly harsh reality: their lands are becoming uninhabitable. Communities are being forced to confront difficult decisions about adaptation, relocation, and safeguarding their cultural identity. Addressing loss and Damage extends beyond directly measurable economic costs and conventional mitigation and adaptation efforts. It includes consideration of intangible yet deeply felt impacts, such as the loss of ancestral connections, traditional knowledge, and cultural heritage that define the essence of these island nations.
