Climate change and ecological degradation are both largely anthropogenic. This means that human activities contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, accelerating global warming. These shifts directly threaten human well-being, especially during disasters. However, the impacts are not shared equally. The extractive, exploitative, and resource-intensive activities of the Global North disproportionately harm Global South communities, which contribute the least to the carbon emissions yet carry the heaviest burden. Climate impacts take many forms, but they can be understood through two interconnected dimensions: slow-onset events and extreme weather events. Slowonset events can be characterized by rising sea levels, increasing ocean temperature, prolonged drought, land degradation, biodiversity loss, and impact to health. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), these are impacts that develop gradually, but their effects compound over time. On the other hand, extreme-weather events include increased heatwaves, intensified typhoons, and severe flooding. These are also characterized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as rare and particular to a place and time. It is often through the interaction between these dimensions that the most severe loss and damage occur. According to an article in the Journal of Climate Change and Health, loss and damage are multidimensional, taking many forms across economic and noneconomic consequences.

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According to the UNFCCC, economic losses are classified as “resources, goods, and services that are commonly traded in markets. ” These losses are commonly due to business operations, agricultural production, tourism, and physical assets such as infrastructure and property. The noneconomic losses are the “remainder of items that are not commonly traded in markets,” such as the loss of life, health, human mobility, territory, cultural heritage, indigenous knowledge, societal/cultural identity, ecosystem services, and biodiversity.