Ensuring human security in a world challenged by the three pressing
issues of the day – climate change, environmental degradation
and migration – will be the focus of an international
conference in Geneva on 19 February.

Jointly organized by Greece under its chairmanship of the Human
Security Network and IOM, the conference will examine both the
impact of environmental degradation and climate change on human
security and migration as well as the impact of migration on the
environment and how interaction on these two phenomena can lead to
potential conflict.

While there has been increasing international focus on climate
change, environmental degradation and migration as separate
subjects, the impact of both on human security and the potential
for conflict, has not received the same level of attention from
policy makers and researchers.

Although data on the number of existing environmental migrants
– those "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 habitual homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily
or permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad"
– and projections on future numbers are unclear with the
latter varying enormously from an estimated 25 million to one
billion by 2050, people across the world are having to leave their
homes or countries because of rising sea levels, scarcity of water,
inability to farm sustainably as well as vulnerability to an
increasing number of weather phenomena that destroy lives and
livelihoods.

Human displacement caused by natural disasters both sudden and
slow on-set, in addition to political conflicts, also play a
critical role in environmental degradation and tensions over
decreasing resources especially water and land.

The conference, which will have keynote presentations by
Theodoros Skylakakis, Secretary General for International Economic
Relations and Development Cooperation at the Greek Foreign
Ministry, IOM Director General Brunson McKinley, the Secretary
General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Michel
Jarraud and Kyung-wha Kang, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner
for Human Rights will not only identify key issues surrounding
climate, environmental degradation, migration and human security,
but will also explore ways of mitigating the impact of migration on
the environment as well as using migration strategies to help limit
environmental damage and potential human crises.

Panellists include E.Angus Friday, Grenada's Ambassador to the
UN in New York with Grenada chairing the Alliance of Small Island
States, as well as prominent representatives of the academic and
NGO community.

"Early planning and action on this complex and multi-dimensional
issue can go a long way in lessening the impact of climate change,
environmental degradation and migration on human security. We have
an opportunity here of taking a step forward in addressing this
issue," says Brunson McKinley.

"Greece, presiding now the Human Security Network felt that
people's migration due to worsening climate and environment
constitutes a challenge for human security. Geneva, where many of
those who understand this serious and complex issue work and live,
seems the right place to tackle this issue," says Greece's
Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Franciscos Verros.

The Human Security Network is a group of 13 countries from
various regions of the world which maintains dialogue at Foreign
Ministers level on questions pertaining to human security and as an
informal, flexible mechanism, identifies concrete areas for
collective action.

The conference, which is being held at the headquarters of the
World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Geneva, is open to the
media.

For background papers and the agenda, please go to "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.iom.int/hsnconference">http://www.iom.int/hsnconference
and "http://www.greeceun.org">http://www.greeceun.org.