Calling for Climate Action on Human Mobility
These messages were developed by the Advisory Group on Climate Change and Human Mobility, with contributions from additional civil society organizations[1].
Keep Human Mobility at the Center of COP26 Deliberations
Climate-related disasters already force millions of people to flee their homes each year. In 2020 alone, hazardous weather events triggered an estimated 30 million displacements. Most displaced people stay in their own countries, but in some situations, displaced people cross borders in search of safety and protection.
While the Global South is most seriously affected, climate change is contributing to displacement around the world, with people forced to flee storms, floods and fires in Australia, Europe, and North America. Refugees and other previously displaced people are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate emergency, as are ocean and ocean dependent communities.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest report on the physical basis for the climate emergency, released in August 2021, provides compelling evidence of increasing trends in extreme weather, ocean warming, slow-onset events, and other climatic disruptions, exacerbating displacement risks faced by vulnerable populations who lack the means to adapt and prepare for these changes.
The climate emergency demands international cooperation now to limit warming to a 1.5°C increase over pre-industrial levels and avoid and minimize future displacements.
Gender equitable and socially inclusive adaptation measures addressing human mobility (displacement, migration, and planned relocation) play a crucial role in building resilience and reducing underlying vulnerabilities that can contribute to displacement or populations that lack the resources to move out of harm’s way, such as through legal and policy frameworks that support safe, voluntary, and dignified migration as a positive choice, and, if necessary, through participatory planning for relocation to safer settlement areas with full respect for human rights.
When displacement cannot be avoided, advance planning, technical support, and adequate resources to build capacity in the most-affected countries can reduce loss and damage when people have to flee or relocate from the adverse effects of climate change by helping them find durable solutions to their displacement that respect their human rights and offer safe, secure land rights.
Urgently Provide Affected and Vulnerable Countries with Expertise, Tools and Financing for Climate Change
Urgently support vulnerable countries in their efforts to scale up prevention and preparedness measures to avert, minimize, and address displacement as a form of loss and damage.
Support the formulation and implementation of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) that incorporate human mobility considerations.
Provide resources to help implement the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage’s (WIM) Task Force on Displacement’s recommendations to strengthen support for countries most vulnerable to climate change, and support continued implementation of the TFD workplan.
Establish loss and damage as a permanent, standalone agenda item for all future COPs/CMAs, and appoint a special COP26 loss and damage envoy to mobilize and enhance political will.
Support efforts to operationalize the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage through the creation of a robust, fully resourced governance structure and Secretariat that can help vulnerable developing States identify and access technical expertise to avert, minimize and address displacement as a form of loss and damage.
Follow up and strengthen financial commitments to dedicate 100 billion USD annually to support mitigation and adaptation measures for developing countries between 2021-2024, ensuring that adaptation accounts for at least 50 per cent of the total grant equivalent amount.
Advance secure land tenure, particularly for women, as a strategy for climate adaptation and mitigation to reduce the threat of climate-induced displacement and enhance agency in communities’ decision-making for when and how they migrate.
Initiate negotiations on a new, higher collective quantified goal for 2025 onwards, “taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries” as mandated in the Paris Urgently Provide Affected and Vulnerable Countries with Expertise, Tools and Financing for Climate Change 3 Agreement (Decision 1/CP.21, para. 53), that supports mitigation, adaptation, as well as loss and damage measures.
Provide guidance and assistance to vulnerable countries on how to access sustainable, adequate, and predictable finance for addressing climate change-related human mobility, including for local-level action, through both climate change adaptation measures and loss and damage solutions.
Ensure efforts to address human mobility within the UNFCCC process are coordinated and coherent with other relevant processes in the UN system, building synergies and avoiding duplication.
Address Human Mobility across the Spectrum of the UNFCCC’s Work and the UN System
MITIGATION AND NDC PREPARATION
Progress to date:
As Parties prepare to present their new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) at COP26 setting out updated mitigation commitments and targets, it is unclear how many Parities, and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in particular, will include human mobility considerations among their priorities for adaptation and addressing loss and damage within their NDC submissions.
Critical next steps:
Underscore the millions of people already displaced by climate-related disasters to instill urgency and strengthen commitments to limit warming to a 1.5°C increase over pre-industrial levels.
When presenting mitigation commitments and targets in the NDCs, encourage LDCs and SIDS, in particular, to highlight priorities for adaptation and addressing loss and damage that will help avoid or reduce future displacement.
ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE
Progress to date:
In May 2021, the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee continued its discussions, based on technical guidance (AC/2021/TP/GGA), to establish a review process for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), created under Article 7 of the Paris Agreement. The GGA review will be one component of the first broader global stocktaking exercise of the Paris Agreement, set for 2023.
The Green Climate Fund has supported Parties with the development of their NAPs. In 2021, the UNFCCC Adaptation Division also launched the UN for NAPs Initiative that aims to provide coordinated technical assistance from across the UN system to help countries formulate and implement their NAPs. An event to highlight the role of NAPs may be organized by the UNFCCC during COP26.
By 2017, 51 countries prepared short-term National Adaptation Programmes of Actions (NAPA). However, to date, only 24 countries, 2 including 7 LDCs and 4 SIDS, have submitted longer term NAPs, which reinforce and expand upon national adaptation priorities identified in their NDCs.
Critical next steps:
Advocate for the GGA review process to include adaptation goals and targets aimed at averting and minimizing displacement, such as through the facilitation of safe, orderly and regular migration when adaptation in places of origin is not possible, planned relocation processes, and other measures.
Encourage global and national efforts, like the Green Climate Fund and UN for NAPs Initiative, to support the inclusion of human mobility considerations in the formulation and implementation of NAPs, particularly for LDCs and SIDS, by providing affected countries with necessary technical expertise and financing.
Highlight the importance of adaptation in existing displacement settings to advance durable solutions, in line with the UN Secretary-General High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement’s September 2021 report and the Sustainable Development Goals’ commitment to leave no one behind, recognizing that refugees and internally displaced persons are often exposed to high levels of displacement risk associated with the adverse impacts of climate change.
Emphasize the importance of inclusive and integrated human rights-based approaches to adaptation measures that conform with the Paris Agreement, the Global Compact for Migration, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, and the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus approach.
LOSS AND DAMAGE
Progress to date:
The WIM Executive Committee’s five-year rolling workplan includes “enhanced cooperation and facilitation in relation to human mobility, including migration, displacement and planned relocation” (UN Doc FCCC/SB/2018/1).
Established under the WIM in 2016 (Decision 1/CP.21), the Task Force on Displacement has submitted a broad range of recommendations to the WIM, based upon extensive research and expert consultations as set out in its workplan.
The COP25 Presidency and incoming COP26 Presidency held initial consultations and developed discussion papers in 2020 and 2021 with technical partners to operationalize the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage by COP26 (established by Decision 2/CMA.2 to catalyze technical assistance).
Critical next steps:
Establish loss and damage as a permanent, standalone agenda item for all future COPs/CMAs, and appoint a special COP26 loss and damage envoy to mobilize and enhance political will.
Develop an action plan and commit adequate financial resources to operationalize the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage through the establishment of a governance structure and Secretariat to serve as a technical support hub for vulnerable developing States at all levels, including local and community-based projects.
Encourage the Santiago Network to invite a wide variety of relevant organizations, bodies, networks, and experts, including at the local level, with technical expertise and assistance on human mobility issues.
Implement the Task Force on Displacement’s (TFD) existing recommendations (welcomed in Decision 10/CP.24) and express continued support for the Task Force on Displacement as an important knowledge forum for helping States develop integrated approaches to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change. Key recommendations include:
“To continue supporting efforts, including finance, technology and capacity building, of Parties and other actors, including with and for communities and local actors, in order to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change, at all levels, including the community, national, regional and international levels;”
“To enhance research, data collection, risk analysis and sharing of information to better map, understand and manage human mobility related to the adverse impacts of climate change in a manner that includes the participation of communities affected and at risk of displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change;”
“To integrate climate change related human mobility challenges and opportunities into national planning processes, as appropriate, by drawing on available tools, guidance and good practices, and consider communicating these efforts undertaken, as appropriate”.
Encourage the TFD to explore and analyze distinctions between adaptation and loss and damage measures in the context of displacement, and clarify, accordingly, how vulnerable countries can access financing under adaptation and/or loss and damage modalities.
FINANCE
Progress to date:
Developed countries have repeatedly committed in Copenhagen, Paris and Madrid to robust financing measures at 100 USD billion per year, starting in 2020 and extending beyond 2025, balanced between mitigation and adaptation (Decision 1/CP.21, paras. 53 and 114). However, these commitments have not yet translated into reality.
As of 2021, adaptation received only 21 per cent of climate financing.
In Madrid, the COP invited the Green Climate Fund to “continue providing financial resources for activities relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in developing country Parties, to the extent consistent with the existing investment, results framework and funding windows and structures of the Green Climate Fund, and to facilitate efficient access in this regard” with reference to the WIM’s five-year work plan that includes displacement (Decision 6/CMA.2).
Critical next steps:
Follow up and strengthen financial commitments to dedicate 100 billion USD annually to support mitigation and adaptation measures for developing countries between 2021-2024, ensuring that adaptation accounts for at least 50 per cent of the total grant equivalent amount.
Initiate negotiations on a new, higher collective quantified goal for 2025 onwards, “taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries” as mandated in the Paris Agreement (Decision 1/CP.21, para. 53), that supports mitigation, adaptation, as well as loss and damage measures.
Ensure that the Adaptation Fund, in particular, continues to receive contributions, such as by allocating proceeds from the Paris Agreement’s market mechanism activities set out in Article 6.
Request a progress update on the Green Climate Fund’s support for measures to avert, minimize and address loss and damage, and the extent to which they address displacement and other forms of human mobility.
Ensure that eligibility requirements for adaptation, as well as loss and damage projects, include and streamline relevant human mobility measures, such as resilience building for displaced populations and vulnerable migrants, facilitating community-based planned relocation, access to pathways for admission and stay in cases of cross-border mobility, and assistance and durable solutions for displaced persons.
Provide developing countries, as well as national, local, and civil society organizations, with guidance on how to access sustainable, adequate, and predictable financing to comprehensively integrate climate change-related human mobility considerations in wider climate change responses.
Contribute funding and support for Member States’ access to humanitarian and development funding outside the UNFCCC process for efforts to address human mobility associated with the adverse impacts of climate change, such as through multilateral vertical funds, the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund, insurance, social protection safety nets, and anticipatory financing mechanisms.
ENSURING COHERENCE AND COLLABORATION WITH THE WIDER UN-SYSTEM
Progress to date:
Displacement, migration and planned relocation in the context of climate change have been addressed to varying degrees across the UN System, including: the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction; the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM); Global Compact on Refugees; the Human Rights Council; the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; and the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement.
As part of its 2018 recommendations, the TFD invited “the Secretary-General to consider steps, including a system-wide strategic review, for greater coherence in the United Nations system to address human mobility in the context of climate change” (FCCC/CP/2018/10/Add.1, para. 1(k)).
Critical next steps:
Create and support opportunities to strengthen concrete, coherent and joined-up responses through the UN Network on Migration’s new thematic workstream on climate change and migration (led by IOM, ILO and UNFCCC and together with other Network members) dedicated to building stronger synergies between the GCM, the UNFCCC, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, such as through the Network’s Work Plan 2021-2022 and the Migration Network Hub.
Encourage countries to use the 2022 International Migration Review Forum, 2021-2022 Regional and Global DRR Platforms, and other relevant fora to address challenges and maximize opportunities linked to human mobility in the context of climate change.
Ensure that the newly created Human Rights Council Special Procedures mandate for a Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change is adequately resourced to provide coherent support to the UNFCCC and across the UN System, including for protecting the rights of people compelled to move in the context of climate change.
Implement the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement Report’s recommendations related to climate change, and, in particular, the recommendation that “The Secretary-General should set out clear expectations for all parts of the UN system on solutions and require relevant UN agencies and entities (humanitarian, development, peace, and disaster/climate change) to outline institutional plans for how they will build internal capacities and step up their engagement on solutions,” drawing on the GP20 Compilation of National Practices to Prevent, Address and Find Durable Solutions to Internal Displacement.
Address human mobility concerns in the context of climate change at all levels, from local to global, by promoting an inclusive, gender-responsive approach for engaging all relevant actors, including public, private and third sectors, as well as indigenous peoples, migrants, displaced populations, and displacement-affected communities.
WE’RE HERE TO SUPPORT
Advisory Group on Climate Change and Human Mobility
Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED): An NGO based in Egypt that works in the field of environment and sustainable development in the Arab world, Mediterranean countries, Africa, and internationally.
Hugo Observatory, University of Liège: A research center committed to the study of interactions between environmental changes, human migration, and politics.
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC): An NGO offering the world’s definitive source of data and analysis on internal displacement to inform policy and operational decision making.
International Organization for Migration (IOM): Migration and displacement management, humanitarian assistance, policy development, capacity-building, research, and advocacy in the context of environmental degradation, climate change and disasters.
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC): An independent humanitarian organization helping displaced people worldwide, NRC is engaged at the global, regional and national level to better protect people displaced in the context of climate change.
Refugees International (RI): RI advocates for lifesaving assistance, human rights, and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises.
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): Displacement, protection policy and legal advice in the context of the climate emergency.
United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS): Research at the nexus of science, policy, and capacity building about the drivers and impacts of climate-related mobility.
Additional Expertise
Climate Action Network (CAN): A global network of more than 1,500 civil society organizations in over 130 countries driving collective and sustainable action to fight the climate crisis and to achieve social and racial justice.
Climate Migration and Displacement Platform (CMDP): A global platform, representing more than 30 organizations, that brings together civil society, activists, and academics with missions at the intersection of climate change and human mobility.
International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA): A global network of NGOs whose mission is to make humanitarian action more principled and effective by working collectively and independently to influence policy and practice.
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP): A legal organization that provides advocacy for refugees and displaced people, including climate displaced people.
Landesa: an international nongovernmental organization working to secure legal rights to land for the 2.5 billion people who depend on forest and farmland for their livelihoods
Water Initiatives: A network of civil society organizations, academia and experts working on water, environmental, and climate change issues in India
[1] The Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED), Climate Action Network (CAN), Climate Migration and Displacement Platform (CMDP), the Hugo Observatory at the University of Liège, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), LANDESA (Landesa Rural Development Institute), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Refugees International (RI), the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), and Water Initiatives. CALLING for Keep Human Mobility at the Center of COP26 Deliberations Flooding in camps and host communities in Borno, Nigeria, 2021. Credit: NRC CLIMATE ACTION on HUMAN MOBILITY
PHOTO CAPTION: A view of a submerged Roberts Camp after the unprecedented rise of water levels in Lake Baringo. The flooding situation in Rift Valley lakes exacerbated by climate change has led to displacement of thousands of people from their homes and work. (Photo by James Wakibia/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)