The impacts of climate change are causing significant losses and damages to human and ecological systems around the world. Addressing these losses and damages is an increasingly important priority on the local and national level as well as in the context of global policy and action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

While some of the impacts of climate change can potentially be reversed (for example, through reconstruction, recovery, restoration, rehabilitation, or replacement), others damage or destroy irreplaceable values and assets. In particular, this is the case for non-economic loss (and damage) (NEL/NELD), which can affect individuals, societies, and the natural environment.

This scoping paper will examine cultural loss as a sub-type of NELD, including its different types, elements, implications, and potential ways that it can be addressed, including through documentation, preservation, and compensation.

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