A year ago, United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) published a report about the work of CJRF partners addressing issues related to climate mobility. It’s often difficult to visualize how climate mobilities interact with Loss and Damage, so we are sharing a series of illustrations to bring the interactions between these issues to life.
Among the questions explored in the report is: How can displacement drive losses and damages? The experience of communities in Cogea, Fiji, helps illustrate this.
In 2017, Tropical Cyclone Yasa caused severe flooding that destroyed homes and infrastructure. Afterwards, government authorities declared the village site unsafe due to unstable ground conditions, forcing residents to abandon their land and begin a prolonged period of displacement.
Since then, they have faced slow-moving, partial, and incomplete relocation efforts. Much of the community has spent three years living in tents and temporary shelters. These conditions have given rise to significant losses and damages—both material and psychological. These include reduced access to clean drinking water, unsafe conditions for women and children, and deep uncertainty about their future.
Today, Climate Tok, working in collaboration with Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), other civil society actors, and the Fijian government, is supporting the community’s efforts to secure permanent relocation.
This illustration was created by Victor Ynami, whose work helps visualize the realities behind climate mobility and Loss and Damage. Stay tuned for more illustrations we’ll be sharing in the coming weeks, each one capturing a different story from the report.
