UNHCR Broadcast: Updates on UNHCR's engagement in climate change and disaster displacement

There is a growing recognition that climate change, environmental degradation, and disasters can contribute to or exacerbate situations of displacement.  UNHCR’s long-standing engagement on this issue, and the increasing recognition of its role and expertise among States and other partners, provide further opportunities for us to bring the Office’s normative and operational experience and knowledge to the fore.

I am pleased to share with you, for your information, two recent updates on UNHCR's engagement in key policy processes related to climate change and disaster displacement.  These documents will help advance our thinking in this area and will be useful in the many discussions around these issues taking place today.  They build on and complement UNHCR documents shared in the UNHCR Broadcast of 31 July 2017.

• The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants explicitly acknowledges the challenges posed by climate change and disaster displacement, including as related to international protection needs.  The paper, “UNHCR’s perspectives on climate change, disaster and displacement in the Global Compacts”, highlights ways in which different aspects might find reflection in both Global Compacts.  I encourage you to familiarize yourself with it, not least given ongoing discussions leading to the development of the two Compacts. .
• The UN Climate Change Agreement (UNFCCC), adopted in Paris at COP 21, created a Task Force on Displacement, of which UNHCR is a member, to develop recommendations to avert, minimize, and address displacement.  Read the summary of “UNHCR’s engagement in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2017”, including recent updates on the Task Force on Displacement and Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP23) held in Bonn, Germany last month.

As part of its participation in the Task Force on Displacement, UNHCR is undertaking a “Mapping of existing international/regional guidance/tools on averting, minimizing, and addressing displacement and durable solutions.”  We would welcome your sharing any relevant information or documents, which might be helpful from your perspective in this exercise, with Marine Franck franckm@unhcr.org  and Erica Bower bower@unhcr.org in DIP.

For further information on UNHCR’s engagement on this issue, please refer to the relevant page on our website.