By Felicia Wang, ShiftUS Campaign
Damage from catastrophic flooding after Hurricane Helene ravaged Swannanoa. Image credit: New York Times.
Asheville, North Carolina was once dubbed a "climate haven", a place to resettle to avoid climate disasters such as wildfires and coastal storms [1]. Hurricane Helene shattered that notion [2].
According to Moody’s Analytics, Hurricane Helene may have caused $15-26 billion in property damage and lowered economic output by $5-8 billion [3]. AccuWeather estimates of economic losses – including loss of life, health costs, extended power outages, and rebuilding infrastructure – have ranged between $95-250 billion [4][5].
The United States has a robust disaster relief system, and yet people will be reeling from the 2024 hurricanes for years. As many countries in the Global South do not have the wealth to cope with climate change, it's time for the wealthier countries to pay a fair share in compensating for losses and damages.
Our Share of International Financial Compensation
The entire UN Loss and Damage fund stands at $700 million per year, 0.2% of projected needs, with the U.S. contributing just $17.5 million [6]. Our contribution to global loss and damage funds is three orders of magnitude smaller than the cost of property damage from a single hurricane. Of course, loss and damage does not only include property damage. While there is no official UN definition, it is generally considered to include damage to infrastructure, economic interruptions, loss of life, migration costs, and loss of culture [7].
The Fair Share Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), led by the ShiftUS campaign, calls for the U.S. to develop both national reforms and international mechanisms to promote realistic loss and damage financing given our current climate disasters. Domestically, policies might include a climate damages tax proposal, the redirection of fossil subsidies and military spending, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reforms, all guided by a comprehensive National Loss and Damage Plan. The US also needs to develop compensation mechanisms such as disaster relief and recovery funds, insurance subsidies for those in high-risk areas, direct reimbursements for cultural losses, expanded healthcare infrastructure, debt cancellation in under-resourced climate-impacted communities, and a U.S. Environmental Damage Fund to restore the natural environment.
On the international level, the fair share framework calculates that the U.S. is responsible for $340 billion per year in adaptation and loss and damage starting in 2030, due to its historical emissions since 1950. Much of this financing would go to developing nations that lack financial capacity and emissions responsibility. Possible international funding mechanisms include reforming International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights, frequent flier levies, and a global billionaire tax, as proposed by the Brazilian G20 presidency [8].
Rebuilding and Recovery
Given the increased level of climate-induced natural disasters, we must rebuild in a way that adapts, emphasizes resilience, and minimizes emissions.
In Buncombe County, North Carolina, “a debris removal company estimates it will collect 100,000 cubic yards of trees and limbs” in just one town [9]. To visualize, this quantity of waste would cover a football field “to a depth of up to 56 feet,” according to town manager Jonathan Kanipe — a burden that does not include washing machines, propane taxes, shattered houses, and other debris. Even though President Biden has approved a request from Governor Cooper to “cover all of the costs of debris removal for the next six months,” there is no plan in place to do so [10]. It will be up to each town and county to figure out how to remove, store, and then dispose of all this trash, and many communities do not have such storage or moving capacity. Thus, the Fair Share NDC calls for a National Zero Waste Plan by 2026 so that local, state, and federal governments can coordinate and preempt waste management needs, both in times of crisis and on the daily [8].
Hurricane Helene also destroyed much critical infrastructure, such as roads, power lines, and bridges [11]. Virginia Tech professor Manoochehr Shirzaei notes that “Legacy systems, including levees, dams, bridges, roads, and electrical grids, were not originally designed to endure the growing severity of hurricanes exacerbated by climate change. As these structures deteriorate with time, their vulnerability to failure during extreme weather events increases” [12]. When we rebuild, we must promote resilience and greener infrastructure.
The Fair Share NDC calls for FEMA and NOAA to create climate resilient design guidelines that can be used by states [8]. In addition, it demands funding to support tree and urban forestry maintenance to reduce flood impacts. New requirements to minimize emissions, such as low carbon construction materials and passive heating and cooling mechanisms, are also necessary. North Carolina’s transportation sector can also be built back better through high speed rail between major cities, increased bus routes and light rail options, and more resilient roads and bridges.
All of this must be coordinated in a National Adaptation Plan by 2027 to ensure that all communities are supported equitably in response to climate impacts. Such a plan must incorporate clear pathways for resilient infrastructure, safeguarded communities, metrics, and identification of protected ecosystems. In addition, the U.S. must contribute its fair share to international adaptation to finance developing nations’ efforts to develop sustainably as well. This is especially true for climate-vulnerable communities in the Global South who have negligible contributions to this crisis.
Climate Mitigation
Finally, any plan to address climate-induced disasters such as Hurricane Helene must address climate mitigation. Our Fair Share NDC mandates a fair, funded, feminist, and equitable fossil fuel phaseout by 2031 to avoid future disasters like Helene [8]. As hurricanes like Helene become the new normal, the US must acknowledge our new reality by writing an NDC that contributes its fair share to mitigating, adapting to, and compensating for the climate crisis.
Work Cited
Andreoni, Manuela. “‘Climate Havens’ Don’t Exist.” New York Times, 1 Oct. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/10/01/climate/asheville-climate-change-flood.html.
Harvey, Chelsea. “Hurricane Helene Signals the End of the ‘Climate Haven.’” Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2024, www.scientificamerican.com/article/hurricane-helene-signals-the-end-of-the-climate-haven.
Jain, Saumya. “Moody’s Puts Total Property Damage From Hurricane Helene at $15-26 billion.” Reinsurancene.ws, 1 Oct. 2024, www.reinsurancene.ws/moodys-puts-total-property-damage-from-hurricane-helene-at-15-26bn.
Danielle, Monica. “Helene Aftermath: More Than 130 Dead, Historic Flooding, Millions Without Power Amid Catastrophic Destruction.” AccuWeather, 30 Sept. 2024, www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/helene-aftermath-more-than-130-dead-historic-flooding-millions-without-power-amid-catastrophic-destruction/1697545.
Ferrell, Jesse. “Helene Is 2nd-deadliest U.S. Hurricane in 50 Years, Could Cost $250 Billion.” AccuWeather, 4 Oct. 2024, www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/helene-is-2nd-deadliest-u-s-hurricane-in-50-years-could-cost-250-billion/1698452.
Lakhani, Nina. “$700m Pledged to Loss and Damage Fund at Cop28 Covers Less Than 0.2% Needed.” The Guardian, 7 Dec. 2023, www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/06/700m-pledged-to-loss-and-damage-fund-cop28-covers-less-than-02-percent-needed.
Bhandari, Preety. “What Is ‘Loss and Damage’ From Climate Change? 8 Key Questions, Answered.” World Resources Institute, www.wri.org/insights/loss-damage-climate-change.
“United States of America, Fair Shares Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).” ShiftUS, 2024, static1.squarespace.com/static/66c61a66e866c037c6929221/t/6706af8ee961996942356b5b/1728491410044/Final+Fair+Share+NDC.pdf.
Stradling, Richard. “Helene Creates Piles of Debris in Western NC That Foretell Long Cleanup Ahead.” The News and Observer, 6 Oct. 2024, www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article293445259.html.
Wagner, Adam. “‘The Nation Has Your Back’ : Biden Joins Cooper for Helene Flyover, Promises Recovery Aid.” The News and Observer, 4 Oct. 2024, www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article293356544.html.
Closson, Troy, and Christina Morales. “Missing People, Power Outages, Ruined Roads: Issues Across the Southeast After Helene.” New York Times, 5 Oct. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/10/05/us/hurricane-helene-damage-deaths.html.
“Expert: Climate Change, Aging Infrastructure, Human Decisions Feed Into Disasters Like Hurricane Helene.” Virginia Tech News, https://news.vt.edu/articles/2024/09/hurricane-helene-climate-infrastructure-disaster-expert.html.
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