A framework towards assessing climate change and disaster-related losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services (FRAME-ECO)

This report introduces a framework for assessing climate change and disaster-related losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services. In response to ecosystem degradation, biodiversity declines and cascading impacts on human well-being, this framework aims to fill data gaps through a standardized approach to identifying, monitoring and assessing such losses. Discussions on loss and damage have been gaining traction at multiple levels of governance and society, particularly as losses to the environment are often not captured comprehensively. This framework aims to: i) achieve a better understanding of losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services; ii) guide countries through comprehensive assessments of losses related to ecosystem extent, ecosystem condition, including biodiversity, and diverse values of nature and ecosystem services using available data, methodologies and tools; and iii) support country-level programming to avert, minimize and address these losses.

This framework consists of two main components: i) the hazard context and ii) the ecosystem and biodiversity context. The hazard context ranges from extreme and sudden-onset events, such as storms or floods, to slow-onset events, like sea level rise, temperature increases or ocean acidification. While the primary focus of this report is on events related to climate change, it is applicable to non-climate related hazards, such as earthquakes, as its general components and approaches are universal. The ecosystem and biodiversity context encompasses three interrelated dimensions: i) ecosystem extent, ii) ecosystem condition, including biodiversity, and iii) the diverse values of nature and ecosystem services. Negative changes in any of these dimensions are assumed to indicate potential losses when they coincide with hazardous events in space and time. Regular monitoring of both components is, therefore, essential and serves as the basis for loss assessments through the establishment of reference levels.