How Can the UNFCCC Loss and Damage Mechanism Help Catalyse Lasting Solutions to Displacement in the Context of Climate Change?

We are delighted to share the recording of the COP 29 event "How Can the UNFCCC Loss and Damage Mechanism Help Catalyse Lasting Solutions to Displacement in the Context of Climate Change?" held in Baku, Azerbaijan on 13 November 2024. The event was co-organised by the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI), the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and built on the key themes of our recent advocacy brief, "It's Time for Solutions! Addressing Displacement and Other Mobility Challenges in the Context of Climate Change Loss and Damage”, co-published by the Loss and Damage Collaboration and Researching Internal Displacement.

Speakers and panellists included Steven Miron, Visiting Fellow, RLI; Matthias Naab, Director, UNDP Regional Service Center, Addis Ababa; Carolina Fuentes, Inaugural Director, the Santiago Network; and Rania Ahmed, Director of Climate Action, IOM. Atle Solberg, Head of the Secretariat of the Platform on Disaster Displacement, moderated the event. The RLI would like to thank IOM for hosting the event in their COP 29 pavilion.

Both the event and the brief advocate for a ‘durable solutions’ approach within the UNFCCC to averting, minimising and addressing displacement in the context of climate change. With the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) now operationalised and the UNFCCC’s Loss and Damage landscape taking shape, this piece discusses how ‘durable solutions’ can help avert, minimise and address loss and damage associated with displacement. They also highlight what steps can be taken within the UNFCCC, by States and other development actors to provide lasting solutions to those displaced or facing other mobility challenges related to climate change.  Those in attendance were quite encouraged by the Santiago Network’s support for including durable solutions approaches into their technical assistance offerings.