Displacement and Justice: Bridging the Gap Between COP Negotiations and Local Realities

At COP29 in Baku, global leaders gathered to discuss the escalating climate crisis. Yet, after  several COPs, progress remains slow, especially for those with no time left. Places such as El Bosque, Tabasco —the first in Mexico to be recognised as a climate-displaced community due to coastal erosion—highlight this disconnect. As sea levels rise, adaptation efforts fail to keep pace. As a member of the NGO Nuestro Futuro and an advocate for climate justice, attending COP29 was unsettling. The lives and faces of those who have been displaced, such as the residents of El Bosque, whose struggle our legal team has supported, were constantly on my mind. This article explores the gap between the slow pace of global negotiations and the urgent needs of those on the front lines of the climate crisis, particularly in the Global South.

The COP29 negotiations: Loss, damage and adaptation

As a young lawyer and climate activist in Mexico, I found COP to be a highly criticised space, where the voices of those most affected by the climate crisis remain distant and silenced. However, COP has provided a platform for dialogue that, at least in theory, provides every state an opportunity to participate in the negotiations on equal footing.

Since the  first COP, significant progress has been made, including the creation of the Loss and Damage Fund. Although its application remains unclear, the fund acknowledges the historical debt of the former colonial powers to many of today’s developing countries. Approved at COP27, the  rules of and access to the fund for vulnerable communities are not still entirely clear, nor even fully developed. While some advances were made at COP29, such as the recognition that loss, damage and adaptation are interconnected, there are still numerous challenges to ensuring equitable distribution and effective operations.

El Bosque: A community displaced by climate change

El Bosque is a small fishing community in southern Mexico in which systemic inequalities, extractivism and climate change have collided. Due to its geographic location, between the Grijalva River on one side and the ocean on the other, as well as the impact of Pemex gas flaring that disrupt maritime flows, coastal erosion has advanced rapidly. This has left the entire community without homes, schools or most of their possessions. The campaign to pressure the Mexican authorities to provide for the relocation of the people in El Bosque has adopted the slogan: »We are the first, but we will not be the last.« This statement is painfully true. El Bosque is just one small example of many of what is happening all around the world, and if there even is a »happy ending« to the story, it seems a distant reality to most of these people.

Connecting COP to local realities: Relocation of El Bosque

Two years ago, during COP27, instead of travelling to Egypt, we went to El Bosque, Tabasco, to organise the first press conference for the community. Our goal was to expose the harsh reality of climate change impacts, while heads of state sat negotiating as if there was still time. As already mentioned, this same COP marked the creation of the Loss and Damage Fund.

Two years later, on the margins of COP29, the families of El Bosque have been relocated thanks to the immense effort made by  three civil society organisations and an emergency programme (albeit not originally designed for climate change displacement, as Mexico has no policy to address this issue). While this is a significant win, it is also a stark reminder of how big a task it is to achieve such results. Without these efforts, this outcome would never have been possible. Sadly, there are not enough organisations to support the growing number of displaced communities, and not all communities have been able to make their voices heard.

Youth perspective: A call for action

Nowadays, it is challenging to write about climate change when so much has already been said, yet so few have listened. I am 26 years old, and although I am a very privileged person, climate change has shaped my life and influenced many of the decisions I have made so far—including my career. Like most of the team at Nuestro Futuro, I am a young person deeply concerned about the inaction and indifference of our leaders. We are all tired of empty promises and saddened by how far removed justice seems to be for most people in our country.

Our NGO encourages people to open their eyes to  situations that can no longer be ignored, to fight from every corner and to speak out.
We believe there is no one in the world who can now deny the effects of the climate crisis. The question is: How will we bring these distant negotiations to the grassroots, particularly for oil-dependent countries like my own, making them meaningful and effective for displaced communities,  the local and central governments, and the millions of people suffering from drought, poverty, inequality and floods?

Conclusion: Bridging gaps

If COP29 was supposed to be the »Finance COP«, when will the members of affected communities actually receive these funds? The relocation of El Bosque brought relief to one single community but cannot solve the broader crisis of climate displacement. We need national and global plans for substantial negotiations. Climate justice must move beyond abstraction to confront inequalities and inaction.

I hope the day comes when achieving relocation and justice for displaced communities is not as complex or time-consuming as it is now. While civil society organisations like ours remain resourceful and determined, finding solutions in countries that lack clear policies will be a possibility for some, but it cannot be the only way forward. That said, if we need to, we will persist with imagination and ingenuity.

As governments and negotiators keep delaying solutions, it is the civil organisations with their limited resources who are tireless—who hold everything together in the face of this crisis, making opportunities for justice and climate consciousness, while trying to help victims avoid paying the highest price. I cannot help but wonder which of the words and theories presented at COP will eventually become tangible and practical programmes. When will the colonial debt be repaid through genuine global cooperation? Only by bridging the gap between policy and reality can we deliver meaningful justice.