Second expert workshop on “Climate change, environment and migration” in Munich from 23 to 24 July 2009

Gradual or sudden environmental changes can trigger major migratory and refugee movements. It is expected that migration flows within countries and across national borders will increase in future – with unprecedented effects on the lives and livelihoods of countless people. This is because migration influences local coping capacity and the environment not only at its starting point, but also at its staging posts and final destinations. To guarantee human safety, appropriate planning and control of migration flows is absolutely indispensable. Nevertheless, the topics of migration, climate change and environmental destruction are often discussed in isolation from each other. In order to promote an interdisciplinary approach, we organised an international expert workshop on climate change, environment and migration on 23 and 24 July 2009 in Munich together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

This event was preceded by a workshop on a similar topic in April 2008, which was organised by the same initiators in Munich. The Rockefeller Foundation, which is also committed to this topic, co-financed both workshops.

The first expert meeting laid the foundations for an alliance dedicated to the relationships between climate change, the environment and migration (CCEMA – the Climate Change, Environment and Migration Alliance). This interdisciplinary platform has several objectives. These include creating a profound knowledge base which can be used to promote awareness not only in politics, but also among the general public. In addition, the Alliance intends to provide a neutral forum for open dialogue and develop concrete recommendations for political action.

Results of the second expert workshop

Great progress has been made since April 2008, and this was apparent from the latest workshop’s programme. The IOM produced a reference book on the current status together with the Rockefeller Foundation and seven migration experts. EACH-FOR, a research programme on the subject which is sponsored by the European Union, has summarised 23 individual case studies from all corners of the globe. A research programme of this scale is new and unique, and thus paves the way for the future. The IOM and the UNHCR have also founded a joint taskforce “Climate change, migration and displacement” aimed at integrating this topic better in political negotiations.

The goal of the second international workshop, in which 28 experts participated, was to develop a solid planning basis in consensus. It became clear that qualitative case studies will remain a key element in conjunction with quantitative methods based on global data networks and observation instruments. Detailed questions were clarified and schemes developed for the four central topics “triggers and drivers of migration”, “migration process”, “adaptation measures” and “governance”. These can be used to raise awareness of the topic on a wider scale.

The CCEMA Steering Committee met for the first time on the afternoon of the second day of the conference. The organisations present, IOM, UNEP, UNU-EHS, OCHA, the Stockholm Environment Institute (Oxford), the University of Sussex, and the Munich Re Foundation resolved to discuss the available research results and to pool future activities more effectively.

The Munich Re Foundation will continue to focus on this key future topic. The deliverables of our projects Chair on Social Vulnerability (UNU, Bonn) and Summer Academy will be aligned with the overriding topic of migration in the next few years.

> You can access further details on the workshop and CCEMA from the download area on the right.

Munich, 5 August 2009