The insidious impacts of incremental sea level rise and shifting climate trends have increasingly tested the very limits of Fiji’s resilience – especially in the cases of rural, coastal, and maritime communities. As tipping points are reached, the Fiji Government has taken action to address loss and damage experienced by those least equipped to shoulder this burden. Since 2018, following an upsurge in projected relocation needs, the Fiji Government began to work to develop a robust policy and legal framework to guide a national response to current and future planned relocation activities.

The Fiji Government has developed a ‘demand-driven’ means to respond to growing requests to manage loss and damage when ‘in-situ’ adaptation options are exhausted through managed retreat. This case study documents the Fiji Government’s experience with designing, establishing, and legislating procedures and systems linked to a dedicated funding mechanism for addressing loss and damage.