The Cancun Agreements use the term slow onset events to describe including sea level rise, increasing temperatures, ocean acidification, glacial retreat and related impacts, salinisation, land and forest degradation, loss of biodiversity and desertification. Calling these longer-term slow onset hazards ‘events’ is a bit of a misnomer. Slow onset hazards unfold gradually over time and more akin to processes than one-off events.Cooperation is required in preventing and rehabilitating loss and damage to those areas affected by hazards such as drought and desertification and developed countries are required to assist particularly vulnerable developing countries in meeting the cost of adapting to the adverse effects of climate change .