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Background

Climate change, environmental degradation, and disasters have been increasingly interacting with drivers of migration and forced displacement. While environmental migration is increasingly recognized as an adaptation strategy by affected or vulnerable groups to adverse climate impacts, there is limited progress in reception and inclusion pathways for those displaced across borders by climate change. While these links are being contemplated at a global stage, Local and Regional Governments (LRGs), as first ports of call for migrants and refugees, are innovating in solutions and responses to addressing climate change induced human mobility.  

The Migration, Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Division of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with the support the City of Paris and the Hugo Observatory, implemented the project entitled “Climate Migration in Urban Areas: Challenges, Representations and Inclusion” which ran from January 2022 until April 2023. The objective of this project was to assist the City of Paris to better understand how climate, disasters and environmental change affect migration and urbanization trends, and to include these considerations in urban planning and key sectoral policies. 

The City of Paris has submitted this project to the Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees, hereby simultaneously pledging to localize the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), and the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). A brief description of the project can be found here.
 
In the framework of the Call to Local Action, the online Peer Learning event “Climate Migration & Displacement: What are LRGs Doing?” (July 4-5) will look at addressing the realities, initiatives and challenges of LRGs to mainstream local climate action that has contributed to develop new governance paradigms. This workshop in Paris will kickstart the activities of this Peer Learning to share the results of the project and exchange with peer cities on gateways to implement the project recommendations.  
 
Given this year’s overarching topic of the GFMD French Chairmanship entitled “Impact of climate change on human mobility”, this workshop will also offer a unique opportunity for cities to elaborate joint advocacy messages and recommendations towards Member States and others towards the GFMD and the Global Refugee Forum, taking place in December 2023.  

Objectives

This workshop is jointly organized by the City of Paris and the Mayors Mechanism. The workshop will take place back-to-back with the GFMD thematic event ‘Culture, Narrative and Human Mobility’ on 27 June and the GFMD thematic event ‘Climate and Human Mobility’ on 28 June.  The event will also form an integral part of the Call to Action Peer Learning session “Climate Migration & Displacement: What are LRGs Doing?”.  
 
The specific objectives of the workshop are: 

1. To present the methodology, deliverables and outcomes of the Paris project and to give the opportunity for exchange with other local governments as well as to identify possible synergies and partnerships.  
2. To foster the elaboration of joint advocacy messages and recommendations towards Member States and others and to leverage the Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees as an opportunity to showcase LRG leadership towards meeting the GCM and GCR.  
3. To help participating cities anticipate human (im)mobility, related impacts, challenges and opportunities occurring in the context of climate change, environmental degradation, disasters and disaster risk reduction, from, within and towards their respective cities.