Speakers:
Alfredo Zamudio, Director of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC)
José Riera, Special Adviser to the Director of International Protection, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Bernd Hemingway, Director, Department of Migration Management, International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Agreed Summary:

When negotiations on the shape of the future global climate change agreement took place at the Geneva Climate Conference, part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiation cycle,  the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),  the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) called on governments to prepare for potential large scale human mobility in face of climate change.

The three agencies are working together as part of the Advisory Group on Climate Change and Human Mobility to bring human mobility issues to the attention of UNFCCC Parties.

Looking at human mobility in a changing climate puts a human face on the climate change debate. “Let us not lose sight of the people involved,” said Jose Riera, Special Advisor to the UNHCR Protection Director.  

According to IDMC, between 2008 and 2012, 144 million people left their homes as they faced natural disasters like hurricanes, cyclones, and floods. In the past twenty years, the risk of displacement linked to natural disasters has more than doubled. Millions of others are moving because of slow changes in their environment, as some areas are getting too hot, too cold or increasingly affected by rise in sea levels.

It is true that forced movements of people create protection challenges that call for specific solutions. Yet, well-managed human mobility can also provide solutions to those affected by climate change.

Bernd Hemingway, Director of the Department of Migration Management at IOM, noted: “We should not tell the story of climate and migration as one of desolation. It is also a powerful tale of hope, empowerment and opportunities.”

Migration can represent a viable adaption strategy that can and should be supported by policy action. Indeed, migration may help individuals and communities become more resilient by diversifying livelihoods, ensuring access to key services and by contributing to development and adaptation in the places of origin through social and financial remittances.

Those who cannot migrate can be trapped in areas severely affected by climate change, and their livelihoods can be destroyed.  In these situations, the best way to protect this trapped population from the effects of climate change is to relocate them.

José Riera of UNHCR noted that planned relocation should only be implemented as a last resort, when all other adaptation measures have failed and requires the consultation, consent and participation of affected communities.

All the speakers called for human mobility questions to be considered within the UNFCCC process and to feature in the final Paris Agreement that will be considered by UNFCCC Parties at the end of 2015 during COP21.

They also noted that climate change-induced displacement was not an inevitable outcome. “But we need action now,” said Alfredo Zamudio, Director of IDMC.

The risk of displacement can be addressed through adaptation measures that can include migration facilitation and planned relocation actions. For this reason, human mobility in the context of a changing climate should be recognized in the overall UNFCCC process, and specifically under the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) process and the Loss and Damage agenda.