Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Leadership in Loss and Damage Solutions

As the world turns its attention to COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the stakes for climate justice have never been higher.

Since the creation of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) at COP27, progress has stalled. Despite pledges made at COP28, no funds have been disbursed. The initial $700m commitment is negligible against the vast scale of global losses.

This paper brings evidence from Colombia, where Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities in Chocó face the compound effects of climate change and historical injustice. Communities are living through the devastation of extreme rainfall, flooding, landslides, drought and sea-level rise. The impacts of these expressions of climate change are layered upon centuries of injustice: colonial-era exploitation, illegal mining, deforestation, land grabs, structural poverty, systemic neglect, environmental destruction, and conflict. Extreme weather events are hitting an already vulnerable region hard.

This report demonstrates in a precise way why locally led solutions are so important and how local actors can be best placed to respond, whilst also underlining an emblematic case of why Loss and Damage finance must dramatically increase to truly meet the scale of the needs.

This resource is available in English and Spanish.