The United Nations Network on Migration calls upon Member States to deliver on their commitments made in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) to safeguard the human rights of migrants and their communities, protecting and enabling their freedom to make safe and informed decisions whether to stay or go when confronted by the risk and impacts of disasters, climate change and environmental degradation.

It is their voices and experiences that should shape our policies, amplifying their impact and propelling meaningful change.

The Network urges the international community to invest in climate-resilient development that is grounded in human rights and gender responsive, and enhances peoples’ agency to choose to stay in their areas of origin or leave in dignity and safety.

Migration in the context of climate change need not be disorderly. Well-governed migration can build resilience and adaptation while contributing to just transitions to environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all.

Ahead of COP 28 and pursuant to international agreements and frameworks, including the Paris Agreement, the GCM, the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN Network on Migration calls upon all UNFCCC parties to:

Build resilience and enhance risk management by:

• Strengthening resilience of communities through inclusive prevention, risk reduction, preparedness and early warning measures, including evacuation planning and adaptive social protection schemes and resilient health systems.
• Investing in joint analysis, improving disaggregated data collection and sharing information to better map, understand, predict and address migration movements that may result from sudden- and slow-onset disasters, including human security risks posed by traffickers and smugglers.
• Developing measures to increase financial resilience, reduce risk exposure and promote alternative livelihoods, including through economic inclusion interventions.

Strengthen rights-based migration governance and expand regular migration pathways by:

• Integrating human mobility in all policies addressing climate change, including national mitigation and adaptation plans of action, disaster risk reduction strategies, just transition plans and planning to address loss and damage.
• Developing and implementing climate-sensitive, fair, inclusive and regular migration pathways, including labour migration, family reunification, scholarship and skills pathways for youth based on compassionate, humanitarian and other considerations.
• Integrate labour mobility into just transition frameworks, with special consideration given to least developed countries and small island developing States.
• Mitigating the effects of climate change through decent work while developing and transferring migrants’ skills in the green sector, including by providing climate education and green skills opportunities for youth.
• Implementing the GCM and the GCR in a complementary manner, expanding regular pathways for those compelled to leave and therefore avoiding protection gaps.
• Ensuring meaningful inclusion of individuals in vulnerable situations, including children and young people, in climate-related policies, actions and investments at the local, national, regional and global levels.
• Where necessary, planned relocation measures should be considered as a last resort to address climate-related mobility.

Mobilize funding and resources by:

• Prioritizing and funding inclusive adaptations to climate change that empowers individuals, diasporas, and communities to make safe and well-informed migration decisions.
• Showing and strengthening solidarity with countries and people most vulnerable to climate change impacts, including migrants, by scaling up adequate, predictable climate finance, including through the Loss and Damage Fund.
• Guaranteeing direct access to climate finance and decision-making processes for affected migrants and communities.
• Mobilizing resources and supporting inclusive initiatives with a focus on climate change adaptation and resilience strengthening, including by contributing to the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund.
• Engaging businesses and investors to support communities' adaptation and safety.
• Collecting good practices on how migrant and diaspora populations are part of transformative and sustainable solutions.

As the international community prepares for COP28, taking action now to protect the rights and dignity of migrants and their communities – will be key to accelerating mitigation and adaptation efforts.

By working together, we can pave the way for a more sustainable and resilient future, where the decision to stay or leave in the face of a changing climate becomes a matter of choice, not despair.

For more information, please contact:

UN Network on Migration (secretariat)
Florence Kim
fkim@iom.int +41 79 748 0395

If you are working on an initiative to further these objectives, please submit your practice as an example of GCM implementation here. 

If you are planning an initiative to advance these objectives, please submit your pledge here.