It is an honor for me to take part in the High Commissioner’s Annual Dialogue on Protection Challenges. I am particularly pleased to have this opportunity to pay tribute to High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres, for his extraordinary dedication to his High office, his unrelenting commitment to refugees and – on a personal note – for the warmth and steadfastness of his friendship and support over the years it has been my privilege to know him.

This Dialogue takes place as IOM and UNHCR continue to join forces across the world to support the vulnerable and provide practical protection. As I speak, for example, UNHCR and IOM are preparing and moving 25,000 Syrian refugees from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to Canada. Let’s think first of all of these refugees, as individuals and families facing new life challenges and opportunities; let us consider our colleagues dedicating their time to make this happen; and thank the communities in Canada who are receiving them.

As the Background paper prepared for this dialogue underscores, we live in an era of unprecedented human mobility with more than one billion people on the move in our world of seven billion. Unfortunately, these include a record number of people forced to flee their homes – displaced within and across borders as a result of persecution, violent conflict, extremism, human rights violations, and natural disasters. The root causes are many and varied, ranging from unprecedented armed conflicts from the western bulge of Africa to the Himalayas to abject poverty, persecution, the demographic deficit and growing socio-economic disparity.

Having just taken part in the COP21 Conference in Paris last week, I would like to focus my brief intervention on an additional root cause; an emerging “megatrend”, if you will, that is already causing displacement and is likely to do so on a much larger scale in the future, namely, climate change. At COP21, I said and I repeat today that, we can now justifiably speak of “climate migration” and “climate migrants”.

In this connection, I would like to make three points:

1. Climate change is a further root cause of human mobility;
2. Human mobility can be an adaptation strategy to climate change;
3. Climate change policy and action should, therefore, include a human mobility dimension.

I. Climate change is a cause of human mobility

Human mobility, in the face of climate change, can increase risks and vulnerabilities. Climate change is already affecting a record number of persons, forcing them primarily to migrate within their own countries but also, in smaller numbers, across international borders.

The effects of climate change – intertwined with those of wars, social unrest and entrenched poverty – are a deadly cocktail, climate change exacerbates human insecurity  globally.  Developing countries will be most affected as they have fewer resources with which to adapt. Sudden-onset disasters, intensified by climate change, have now displaced some 26 million people per year since 2008.

The vast majority of the displaced are in Asia. Eleven of the 20 countries most affected by displacement linked to storms, floods and other natural hazards are in Asia. Climate change also poses pernicious, slow – yet long term – threats to the well-being of populations, endangering livelihoods through desertification, water stress and droughts.

II. Human mobility is an adaptation strategy to climate change

To link disaster response with climate adaptation strategies increases the resilience of affected communities. Local climate adaptation projects diversify livelihoods, improve infrastructures and provide energy. Such interventions in migration-prone areas provide residents with the choice of whether to migrate or to remain – and reduce the need for emergency interventions to address future forced displacement.

When areas become inhospitable, safe and dignified migration channels should be made available to those who wish to move. Our goal should be to use adaptation strategies to protect the most vulnerable and avoid chaos and tragedy when migration crises unfold. Addressing climate change, mitigating its effects, and supporting and financing adaptation in all countries, will be crucial to protecting people, including migrants and displaced persons. For this to happen, we need relevant climate change policy and action that considers human mobility. This brings me to my third and final point.

III. Climate change policy and action should include a human mobility dimension.

Now is the time to plan for ways to mitigate current and future adverse impacts of climate change. Follow-up actions to COP21 require a shared understanding and a coordinated approach to human mobility in the context of disasters, environmental degradation and climate change – especially for countries most vulnerable to climate change.  Migration policy tools need to be tailored to provide responses throughout the whole migration cycle and include activities on prevention and durable solutions.  This means progressively linking up humanitarian action, human rights protection, migration management, refugee protection, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and development interventions into one coherent approach.

Conclusion

In Paris, we witnessed a historical moment for international action on migration and climate. The Agreement adopted last week represents a historical breakthrough with the formal inclusion of “migrants” in the Preamble of the Agreement. We must now get our act together. IOM stands ready to work with Governments and partner agencies to move forward and do all that is necessary to implement the actions that have been promised.