Climate change is reshaping our world, intensifying threats to our health, rights or even life and driving millions to move in search of safety and dignity. Rising seas, melting glaciers and drying lands compel people to leave their homes, while extreme weather threatens lives, livelihoods and futures. Increased pressure on our ecosystems heightens risks and erodes human rights. For many, the pursuit of decent work and access to food, healthcare and basic services becomes more precarious every day, and many migrate.

The reality is undeniable: climate change is transforming mobility patterns, demanding urgent and comprehensive action. 

A broad challenge needs a comprehensive solution involving cooperation between all actors and innovative thinking to boost ambition and drive action to protect those on the move. The UN Network on Migration calls on all Parties to the UNFCCC to act now by implementing and ensuring greater coherence between key global frameworks governing migration and other forms of human mobility, climate action and disaster management: the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Global Compact on Refugees and the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage. Together, these commitments provide the foundation for tackling the complex intersection of climate change and human mobility.

If we can strengthen policies and legislation in this context, enhance early warning systems and mobilize the necessary climate financing, we can help safeguard people’s rights and make migration a matter of choice rather than despair.

If we can integrate human mobility into National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions, we can ensure policies that take into account the needs, capacities, rights, health and vulnerabilities faced by people on the move and turn challenges into opportunities for resilience.

If we can promote migration as part of the solution to climate change through safe and regular movements, while ensuring the just transition to greener economies and societies, if we can uphold the rights of migrant workers and their families, we can forge a better path forward.

The UN Network on Migration calls on all governments to take immediate action to:

• Strengthen human rights-based, gender-responsive, child-centred and inclusive approaches that prioritize the rights, health and well-being of migrants and affected communities.
• Scale up sustainable and predictable financing for vulnerable countries to strengthen adaptation efforts and to respond to loss and damage, including relating to human mobility. 
• Make rights-based pathways for regular migration available and accessible as an adaptation option – including labour mobility and scholarship pathways. 
• Ensure the inclusive, safe and meaningful participation of migrants and affected communities in climate change planning and decision-making processes so that solutions truly address their needs and take into account their lived experiences.

If we rise to the challenge and act now, we can avert the worst impacts of climate change on people. The Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund, the GCM Demand-driven Facility and resources like the Network’s CLIMB database provide powerful tools to support countries in building the capacity to adapt, reduce risk and develop solutions that protect people. It has already proven this by funding innovative interventions and building capacity in regions such as East Africa, the Pacific, Asia and the Americas.

Climate action is not only about protecting the planet; it’s about safeguarding people’s rights, their homes, lives and futures.

At COP29, we urge all Parties to seize this moment, act decisively and forge solutions that ensure migration is safe, orderly and dignified.
If we act now, we can build a future where people move with dignity, their rights are protected, and their futures are secure.

For more information, please contact:

UN Network on Migration secretariat: Florence Kim fkim@iom.int