Argentina - IOM and the Latin American Population Association (ALAP), supported by UNFPA, are holding a two-day international seminar on Migration, Climate Change and Sustainable Development in South America in Foz de Iguazu, Brazil.

The event, which started Monday (17/10), brings together some 50 representatives from Latin America, including Member States of the South American Conference on Migration (CSM) and mayors of municipalities in South America highly vulnerable to climate change.

Also attending are representatives from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE), the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), the South American Network for Environmental Migration (RESAMA) and scientists and independent researchers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico and the United States.

IOM will present a progress report on the study Migration and Climate Change: Cases of Study in Five Countries in South America, funded by IOM and prepared by experts on the topic.

Also on the agenda are issues such as climate change and its impact on human mobility in Latin America, the protection of the rights of migrants for environmental reasons and public policy on migration and climate change as local governments respond to many challenges.

IOM Regional Director for South America Diego Beltrand noted that the number of migrants could substantially increase if more territory becomes uninhabitable due to climate change. “We believe that migration can play an important role as an adaptation strategy to environmental change, especially climate change of slow evolution,” he noted.

“This seminar is an important tool for identifying and make progress in action lines and collaboration between academia and governments that can contribute to the development of public policies at national and regional levels on the relationship between human mobility, climate change and sustainable development,” said Enrique Pelaez, President of ALAP.

For further information, please contact Juliana Quintero at the IOM Regional Office in Buenos Aires, Tel. + (54) 11 32488134, Email: juquintero@iom.int