Conceptualizing Environmental Peacebuilding’s Response to Climate Change-Induced Loss and Damage

Elsa Barron, Wilson Center Environmental Change and Security Program, Hoosier Interfaith Power and Light (United States)

Environmental peacebuilding’s focus on local contexts has meant that there has been comparatively little scholarship on the international impacts of climate change. However, I argue that climate change-induced losses and damages are a form of violence. Responding to them should be a priority for the field of environmental peacebuilding. Through a series of interviews with climate justice experts and civil society advocates at COP29, I explore three emerging framings of loss and damage: a set of local humanitarian crises, a global climate injustice, and a form of violence by high-emitting states. I argue that framing loss and damage as a form of violence is the most all-encompassing and provides a framework for response that includes recognition of, cessation of, and reparation for harms committed. High-emitting states disproportionately responsible for the causes of loss and damage should be held accountable for their impacts through a process of peacebuilding and reconciliation.