8th Feb 2019 Nisreen Elsaim Muawia Shaddad Landscape of global discourse on The Link Between Climate Change and Migration 8th Feb 2019 Nisreen Elsaim Muawia Shaddad

Today, many environmental issues can be responsible for displacement and migration. They are usually grouped according to temporal dynamics. Distinctions exist between slow- onset environmental changes, such as desertification, sea-level rise, and soil degradation, and rapid-onset changes, such as tropical cyclones, heavy rains and floods, droughts and disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

According to reports of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, more than 100 million people were affected by more than 300 natural disasters in 2013.

In Africa:

As most researchers agree, the main environmental factors that can cause displacement and will become more significant in the coming years due to anthropogenic climate change are the increased strength and frequency of storms and floods, droughts and desertification, and sea-level rise (IOM, 2014, p. 38; Piguet et al., 2011, p. 6). Experts expect the effects of a warming world and more frequent extreme weather events to exacerbate already existing vulnerabilities, mainly in the global South, in the realm of food security, health issues, and fresh water supply (IOM, 2014, p. 38). Furthermore, sea-level rise can make coastal areas and low-lying islands uninhabitable. However, the ways in which these environmental phenomena and environmental changes will interact with population movements and individual migration projects are being debated. Although climate-change migration is a rapidly expanding research field, the links between environmental change and migration remain under investigation (IOM, 2014, p. 28). The report: Migration, Environment and Climate Change: ASSESSING THE EVIDENCE

Climate migrant definitions: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) provides a “working definition” of “environmental migrant” that “remains a common point of departure” (White, 2011, p. 29): “Environmental migrants are persons or groups of persons who, for compelling reasons of sudden or progressive changes in the environment that adversely affect their lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave their homes or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad” (IOM, 2014, p. 6). The vaguest term that relates migration to environmental change is “environmentally induced migration” or “environmentally induced population movement.” used by the United Nations Environment program (UNEP).

Other bodies and reports:

The effect on livelihoods and vulnerable groups:

From the Concept Doc. To this Meeting: “The Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration (GCM)2 and UNFCCC-COP24 guidelines3 both focus on integrated approaches to avert, minimize and address displacement of populations related to the adverse effects of climate change. At the African level, the subject has gained traction as an important area of focus in the policy discourse spaces. During the 7th edition of the Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-VII), the nexus between climate change, displacement and migration took the centre-stage with participants and experts drawn from diverse backgrounds sharing their experiences and perspectives on the evolving understanding of climate change as a driver of the refugee crisis engulfing Africa and Europe. A regional dialogue on the nexus between climate change and conflict in the Horn of Africa was held in 2019, a year which also witnessed the UN Security Council convening a session to discuss the nexus between climate change and global conflicts and to deepen understanding of climate related security risks.

But while all these conversations, both at African level and globally point to an acknowledgement of the climate change-conflict-migration nexus, displacement occasioned by the accelerating climate change is not something that ‘might’ happen in the future - it is happening now, with devastating consequences. The UNHCR estimates that there are already 21.5 million people globally that have been forcibly displaced by sudden onset of weather-related hazards, such as flooding and droughts, leading to crop failure and forced migration.”

- Other Websites - Climate Change, Conflict and Migration in the Horn of Africa - Darfur Are we ready, AU ……….

Any Qs, and thank you.