We believe in social transformation through collective action. Loss and damage are a fight for justice and human dignity. Communities are fighting to ensure that their lives are respected and that human dignity is at the heart of addressing loss and damage.

La Ruta del Clima and Oxfam are promoting a series of dialogues to strengthen a justice-based narrative on Loss and Damage. We want to build a shared advocacy agenda on loss and damage that goes beyond any borders between US and Latin American and Caribbean civil society. If we listen to each other, we can find a collective voice that addresses loss and damage and breaks systemic barriers that deny us our human dignity.

SUPPORTED BY

IF WE MOVE TOWARDS A LOSS AND DAMAGE NARRATIVE FROM FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES’ PERSPECTIVES, WE GET CLOSER TO CLIMATE JUSTICE.

Washington DC Convening of US & LatAm CSOs

16th October 2023.
Loss & Damage: Linking the Lived Experience with International Policy Debates

Discussions of loss and damage are dominated by political controversy and high-level policy design. It is vital to ensure that any policy response – from the global level to the most local level – is responsive to the needs and priorities of frontline communities. There are contextual differences on how loss and damage is experienced by frontline communities, but there is an opportunity to explore commonalities on how communities and policymakers in the US and Latin American countries can work together to ensure human dignity.

With the approach of COP28 and the expectation that Parties will agree on how to operationalize new funding arrangements and a new fund to address loss and damage, this timely discussion of these issues will bring to the fore the perspectives, needs, and priorities of local communities. Speakers from government and US and Latin American civil society organizations will explore this topic from their individual perspectives.

Location:

InterAction 1400 16th St NW #210 Washington, DC.

Time:

Discusión de Panel – 13:00 EDT
Civil Society Dialogue – 14:30 ED
Closing - 17:00 EDT

Panelist:

Ashlee Thomas, Senior Policy Advisor, International Climate Finance, Oxfam America
Adrian Martinez Blanco, Director, La Ruta del Clima
Rachel Cleetus, Policy Director, Climate & Energy Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
Marcos Nordgren, Climate Change Adviser, Bolivian Platform for Climate Change
Rev. Dallas Conyers, Faith and JEDI Manager, Southeast Climate & Energy Network

Moderator – TBC

Este diálogo de la sociedad civil es una pequeña reunión de OSC de EE. UU. y América Latina para permitir que los grupos compartan perspectivas sobre pérdidas y daños, discutan el trabajo actual sobre el tema a nivel local, nacional y global, y exploren áreas potenciales de colaboración. –

LOSS AND DAMAGE: GROUNDING GLOBAL POLICY IN LOCAL EXPERIENCE

18th of October 2023

Loss and damage is front and center in this year’s climate change policy debates, yet many local communities remain unaware of these global level discussions, even as these discussions shape policy that is intended to support them in the face of climate change impacts. La Ruta del Clima, together with Oxfam America, is working to bring together civil society organizations in Latin America and the United States to explore the shared experience of frontline and marginalized communities who experience loss and damage.

As part of building connections and solidarity among these communities, we propose to host a panel discussion that will unpack the global dialogue on loss and damage, featuring the latest messages to global policymakers from the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change; highlight the lived experience of loss and damage in Latin American and US communities; and explore key actions to shape the global response and ensure it responds to local priorities.

Location:

Leon & Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine

1470 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10029, Second floor, Seminar room A

Time:

10:00-11:30 EDT

Panelist:

Dr. Ian Fry, UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change
Adrian Martinez Blanco, Director of La Ruta del Clima
Amali Tower, Founder & Executive Director, Climate Refugees
Lebogang Ramafoko, Executive Director, Oxfam South Africa
Isatis Cintron, Climate Trace Puerto Rico

Moderator:

Brenda Mofya, Head of New York Office, Oxfam International

EXTRACTIVISM AND UNJUST CLIMATE IMPACTS

Human Rights and the environment are inextricably linked. People depend on the environment for their livelihoods, yet increasing environmental pressures and degradation threaten our well being. Local communities struggle to survive, while being exposed to the negative effects of an unsustainable economic system and the adverse effects of climate change. Extractivism, Consumption and Climate Change are interlinked, generating harm to frontline communities around the world in a cycle of environmental violence that must be broken by justice and people's power. As loss and damage due to the climate crisis erodes the foundations of societies, human rights and a demand for justice are the frontline of political demands.

This participatory meeting is intended to create a safe space for exchange, awareness raising, and relationship building among civil society groups from the Global South and North and diaspora communities around the human right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

Leading this conversation we will have Mr. David Boyd, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment. We strive to build collective justice through democratic transformation and accountability of polluters.

Time:

13:30 EDT

Featured speaker:

Dr. David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment

**Invitation only event due to limited space available. **

NORTH & SOUTH COP 28 DIALOGUE ON LOSS AND DAMAGE

Monday 4th of December 2023

During the Climate Conference we will host a dialogue bringing together NGOs form Latin America / Carribean and the US to find a common voice to demand a just Loss and Damage Fund. A first step to strengthen alliances and begin a continental dialogue on a common political demand on loss and damage from a rights-based perspective.

Join us in this dialogue as partner and let´s build a stronger voice that puts people´s rights and justice in the center stage of UNFCCC negotiations.

More details coming soon!

MORE ABOUT US:

La Ruta del Clima is a Costa Rican NGO that advocates for the public’s right to participate in climate governance processes. La Ruta prioritizes collaboration with other organizations to amplify the voices of frontline communities and to inform policy discussions so they engage and respond to the needs of those communities. La Ruta del Clima has conducted a case study in Costa Rica, which was submitted to the UNFCCC Transitional Committee on Loss and Damage, and in late September will travel to Puerto Rico to explore the lived experience of loss and damage, the priorities and needs of communities, and the gaps in support. These case studies are intended to inform the ongoing discussion about loss and damage and to build solidarity among civil society and communities in the United States and Latin America.