When he moved to Dhaka two years ago, after the surging Jumana River eroded away his home and farm, Abul Kashem made just enough money helping shoppers carry their groceries to feed his family and pay his rent.

But as a global cost-of-living crisis fuelled in part by the Ukraine war takes hold, driving up fuel and food prices, Kashem - like many climate change migrants in Bangladesh - is no longer getting by.

Fewer people can afford to hire him and when they do, they pay less - even as his rent and grocery bills soar. That has forced his family to cut back on meals and move 20 km (12 miles) further from his work.

With so many losses, "I can't survive," he warned our correspondent Mosabber Hossain.

For the world's most vulnerable, losses and damage from climate change disasters - and from the aftermath of trying to cope with them - are swiftly rising.

Climate change "loss and damage" - the harm that happens when people aren't prepared for the impacts of warming or can't adjust how they live - is expected to be a hot topic at the November COP27 U.N. climate conference in Egypt.

Researchers this year found that 55 economies hard hit by climate impacts - from Bangladesh to Kenya to South Sudan - would have been 20% wealthier today if not for climate change and for the $525 billion in losses they have suffered from shifts in temperature and rainfall over the last two decades.

Demand for a global fund to help countries and communities manage those losses is growing. But such a move faces fierce opposition from rich nations including the United States, Australia and some European countries that don't want to be held liable for their historically high greenhouse gas emissions.

How else might the costs of loss and damage be paid? The U.N. Secretary General wants to tax fossil fuel companies, particularly as oil firms rake in record profits. Taxes on airlines and financial transactions also might play a role.

"It makes total sense for tax systems to build in a way for people to recover from the harm caused by the planet's biggest polluters," noted Teresa Anderson, the global lead on climate justice for ActionAid International.

Meanwhile, smart ways to reduce risks and curb losses are being tried out around the globe.

In the United States, people living in poorer urban communities prone to heat stress are using monitoring equipment to record heat and humidity levels in various parts of their neighbourhoods.

That's a first step toward identifying the hottest places and then securing financial resources to cool them, whether with tree planting, shades or heat-reflecting paint for roofs and roads.

A lack of data has in the past held communities back from accessing the money they need, said Liv Yoon, a social scientist. Now, "they have that data."

This is the last week of our Frontlines newsletter - thank you all for reading! Next week we change our name and look (but not our focus). Keep an eye out for our revamped newsletter: Climate.Change.

See you next week,

Laurie

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