IOM Director General William Lacy Swing and Achim Steiner,
Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), have today signed a cooperation agreement pledging closer
cooperation between the two organizations in the field of climate
change, the environment and migration.

The agreement between IOM and UNEP marks a growing recognition
of the need to jointly address climate change, environmental
degradation and migration in a comprehensive manner at policy,
research and programmatic levels at Headquarters and in field
locations where both organizations are represented.  

The two organizations will focus on concrete joint efforts
to: 

• Develop and enhance policy, operational coherence and planning
  at the national and international levels
• Develop joint research and exchange of information on the links
  between climate change, environment and migration in order to make
  this information publicly available
• Build the capacity of governments and other relevant
  stakeholders to respond effectively to the challenges presented by
  the cross-section between climate change, environment and
  migration
• Develop and implement joint programmes in the area of climate
  change, environment and migration to promote the positive
  contribution of migration to sustainable development and to support
  the adaptation of vulnerable groups and states affected by climate
  change in order to mitigate its negative effects
• Develop and implement environmentally sustainable migration
  management programmes, including crisis migration management and
  long-term solutions.

IOM and UNEP will also explore collaborative efforts in areas
related to public health, including the development and
implementation of health-related programmes for populations
displaced by, or on the move, as a result of environmental
factors.

Fore more information, please contact:

Jean-Philippe Chauzy

IOM Geneva

Tel: +41 22 717 93 61

Mobile: +41 79 285 43 66

E-mail: "mailto:jpchauzy@iom.int">jpchauzy@iom.int