COP29 Must Address Displacement and Mobility

Statement from Senior Advocate and Program Manager of the Climate Displacement Program Jocelyn Perry:

The world is already experiencing the devastating effects of climate change. As COP29, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) begins on Monday, November 11, 2024, Refugees International urges Parties to consider the effects of climate change on displaced communities, increase support for those experiencing loss and damage due to climate change, and proactively plan for mobility and displacement within adaptation planning.

At this year’s meeting, we hope to see the necessary ambition reflected in the decision text and funding commitments to meet the magnitude of the climate emergency in the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on finance. We also urge: 

• Continued progress on enabling direct access for communities, including refugee-led organizations, to resources from the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage;
• Inclusion of cross-cutting human mobility indicators in the operationalization of the Global Goal on Adaptation;
• Increased commitment to funding and provision of technical assistance for countries as they develop and implement their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), including guidance on inclusion of particularly vulnerable groups such as refugees in NAP consultations and implementation of their actions; and,
• A robust renewal of the terms of reference for the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM) that recognizes the contributions of and need for expanded engagement with affected communities and civil society across its institutions, including the Task Force on Displacement.

For more details on these issues and more, read our Pointers and Key Messages on Human Mobility for the COP29 Negotiations, developed alongside our coalition partners in these efforts. We have also contributed to this brief, It’s Time for Solutions! Addressing Displacement and Other Human Mobility Challenges in the Context of Climate Change Loss and Damage.”

Relevant Resources

Refugees must be at the table for climate change negotiations at all levels. 

In the absence of significant participation by refugee communities at COP, Refugees International conducted consultations with sixty refugee-led organizations in Uganda in October. These conversations produced this set of recommendations for Parties on how to better support their efforts in the fight to mitigate and adapt to climate change in refugee settlements.

Refugees International has also published this report on how Kenya can localize its National Adaptation Plan to the municipal and county level to ensure its effective implementation in refugee-hosting counties.

Finally, we worked with the International School on Climate Mobility this summer to share the stories of how climate change is affecting those living in displacement.

Refugees International at COP29

If you’ll be in Baku or would like to follow along online, you can find Refugees International at COP29 at these events.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Etant Dupain at edupain@refugeesinternational.org