Sophia Wirsching Bread for the World, Berlin

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1 Sophia Wirsching Bread for the World, Berlin
Migration in times of climate change introduction to global patterns and definitions Non-economic loss and damage How to deal with climate-induced displacement Side event, Bonn 17 Nov. 2017 Sophia Wirsching Bread for the World, Berlin

2 Topics On Definitions On Statistics Challenges 2

3 Who is an internally displaced person?
A person forced to flee his or her home but never cross an international border. IDPs seek safety anywhere they can find it—in nearby towns, schools, settlements, internal camps, even forests. IDPs include people displaced by environmental disasters. Unlike refugees, IDPs are not protected by international law or eligible to receive many types of aid because they are legally under the protection of their own government. Countries with some the largest internally displaced populations are Colombia, Iraq and South Sudan. UNHCR 2016

4 Who is an environmenally displaced person?
Persons who are displaced within their country of habitual residence or who have crossed an international border and for whom environmental degradation, deterioration or destruction is a major cause of their displacement, although not necessarily the sole one. The terms “environmental refugee” or “climate refugee” have no legal basis. working definition! IOM, 2011

5 Who is an environmental migrant?
An environmental migrant is a person who, predominantly for reasons of sudden or progressive change in the environment that adversely affects his/her live, is obliged to leave his/her habitual homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who moves either within the country or abroad” Few countries have policies to promote migration as an adaptation strategy. Migration is not usually integrated into NAPs. Emphasis is more on limiting migration, rather than facilitating it. working definition ! IOM, 2011

6 Statistics By the end of 2016, 65.6 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations. The world’s forcibly displaced population includes: 22.5 million refugees in the world—the highest ever seen; 40.3 million internally displaced people 2.8 million asylum-seekers.

7 Climate change impacts triggering migration

8 Refugee generating and receiving countries 2015
UNHCR World at War, June 2015 UNHCR Global Trends, 2016

9 Migration movement increases
Numbers of persons living in a foreign country for more than one year (long-term migrants): mio. (2,5% of world population) mio. mio. mio. mio. mio. (3,2% of world population) million migrants? Quellen: IOM, GCIM, UNFPA

10 Global Migration in the Regions
Quelle: IOM, 2016

11 Refugees and IDPs, Die Konvention enthält zwar eine präzise Definition, was unter einem politischen Flüchtling zu verstehen ist, verpflichtet aber die Unterzeichnerstaaten nicht zur Aufnahme jedes Flüchtlings. Die Konvention verbietet aber, und das macht ihre praktische Bedeutung aus, Flüchtlinge in Gebiete zurückzuweisen oder abzuschieben, in denen ihr Leben oder ihre Freiheit bedroht sind (“Refoulement-Verbot”). Die Staaten interpretieren die Definition unterschiedlich, weshalb sich die Praxis der Asylgewährung in den einzelnen Staaten erheblich unterscheidet. Mit der zunehmenden Zahl von Staaten, die die GFK und das Zusatzprotokoll von 1967 unterzeichnet haben, ist ein internationales Flüchtlingsregime entstanden, dem der Gedanke zugrunde liegt, dass ein Staat Asyl gewähren kann, es aber nicht muss. Im Rahmen der Vereinten Nationen wurde 1950 für die Betreuung von Flüchtlingen das Amt des Hohen Flüchtlingskommissars (UNHCR) geschaffen. Die Organisation hat als “Hüterin der Konvention” für die Einhaltung der Prinzipien des Flüchtlingsschutzes zu sorgen. Im letzten Jahrzehnt hat sich die Arbeit von UNHCR grundlegend gewandelt: Während die Organisation früher hauptsächlich als Finanzier von Hilfseinsätzen anderer Organisationen auftrat, ist sie inzwischen selbst operativ tätig, insbesondere in der humanitären Hilfe und bei der Repatriierung von Flüchtlingen. UNHCR Global Trends, 2016

12 Environmental and other migration Observations
Global trend: more internal and international migration; mix of economic, political and ecologic reasons for migration Increasing number of people forced to leave Tendency to control migration (containment of migration) Rather than protecting migrants and displaced persons

13 Challenges Lack of field-based empirical research on NELD that feeds into policy processes (especially the climate negotiations) and practice (risk management and adaptation) in the field of climate change and human mobility. Need to enhance and protect livelihood resilience. Address social vulnerability and social resilience by acknowledging human mobility as adaptation facilitating it and preventing displacement as consequence of loss and damage, and climate justice. UNFCCC WIM to relate to other global migration policy processes e.g. Sendai Framework for DRR, GCM, PDD