Navigating climate risk through loss and damage: implications for Bakarwal nomads in the Pir Panjal Range, India

Climate change is a global phenomenon that poses a significant threat to nomadic communities' traditional livelihoods worldwide. The Bakarwal scheduled tribe; a nomadic community from Pir Panjal Range, India is not immune to these threats. The recurrence of Extreme Weather Events (EWE) and emerging Slow Onset Changes (SOC) increases their susceptibility to economic and non-economic losses thereby, endangering pastoralism. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for addressing the impacts of climate change on nomadic communities through loss and damage incurred by various climatic stressors. The framework involves four key steps: (1) identifying climatic stressors (2) identifying climate-vulnerable communities, (3) assessing economic and non-economic losses, and (4) establishing a relationship between climatic stressors and the losses. The study used a mixed-method approach to assess climate risk. The results show that Bakarwals are experiencing significant economic and non-economic losses. The recurrence of extreme events results in direct economic losses to them whereas the slow onset changes bring implications on non-economic losses to nomadism. The study underscores the importance of taking an anticipatory and proactive approach to climate change adaptation. It provides context-specific recommendations for policymakers and practitioners to approach climate risk while navigating through loss and damage. This research contributes to the literature by providing a roadmap for identifying and addressing the loss and damage among pastoral communities, thereby enhancing their adaptive capacity.