This report synthesizes the key findings and outcomes of each session of the “Bay of Bengal Learning Convening on Non-Economic Loss and Damage (NELD),” held from August 18-20, 2025, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The convening brought together over 25 participants from seven
grassroots grantee organizations, the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF), and independent consultants. Its primary goal was to build a shared understanding of NELD, facilitate peer-to peer learning, and co-create actionable strategies to center community voices in climate action and policy advocacy.
The dialogues, grounded in participatory methodologies like storytelling, NELD mapping, and Gender Power Walk, etc., revealed that the most profound climate impacts in the region are non-economic. These include severe mental health trauma, the loss of cultural heritage and
indigenous knowledge, forced displacement fracturing social cohesion, and the systematic erosion of identity. A critical insight from the convening is that the current dichotomy between economic and non-economic loss is often unhelpful, as these impacts are deeply interconnected in the lived experiences of communities.
