While this year’s COP29 in Baku is billed as the “Finance COP” with the aim to raise 1 trillion dollars for climate finance. While the concerned Loss and Damage fund includes human mobility and forced displacement, it is still chronically underfunded. And Europe’s flagship initiative, the European Green Deal, lacks a clear strategy to address the rising tide of climate-induced migration.
The European Green Deal, introduced in 2019, promises a greener future by tackling carbon emissions and embracing sustainability, but is it ignoring a critical consequence of climate change: migration? Can the Green Deal truly deliver on its promise of “no person and no place left behind” if it overlooks those displaced by the very crisis it seeks to solve?
The movement of people due to climate change, commonly referred to as climate migration, is increasingly becoming a critical issue worldwide. The International Organisation für Migration (IOM) defines climate migration as the displacement of individuals or communities forced to leave their homes due to sudden or gradual environmental changes brought about by climate change. As climate-induced crises such as extreme weather events and resource scarcity intensify, it raises pressing questions about food security, agricultural sustainability, and the policies needed to mitigate the impact not only on developing countries, but on the EU as well.
The European Green Deal: addressing climate, but ignoring migration?
The European Green Deal is the European Union’s flagship initiative aimed at combating climate change and creating a sustainable future. It was introduced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2019 and targets carbon neutrality by 2050, focusing on renewable energy, biodiversity, and decarbonisation. Yet, despite its progressive environmental goals, the Green Deal falls short of addressing one of the most severe consequences of climate change: climate-induced migration.
“No person and no place left behind” is a key tenet of the European Green Deal. However, it lacks concrete strategies for dealing with the inevitable human displacements caused by climate change. While the Green Deal does acknowledge the need for sustainable development beyond Europe, particularly in African countries, migration itself has not been fully incorporated into the discussion. Projects like „NaturAfrica“ aim to help mitigate the impact of climate change in African regions by creating jobs and improving infrastructure. However, it remains unclear how these projects will address migration driven by environmental pressures. Experts warn that while internal displacement in Africa will increase, Europe may also see more migrants fleeing climate-induced crises.
Beyond European politics: COP29
At the ongoing COP29 world climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, climate migration will play a major role in the discussions. As the financing of the Loss and Damage Fund will be a central theme of this session of the UN conference, it will be difficult to ignore its impact on migration across the Mediterranean and into Europe. The Fund’s current level of USD 702 million, while remarkable, raises the question of whether it is sufficient to address not only the direct climate impacts but also the growing challenge of climate-induced displacement.
The link between climate debt in vulnerable countries and forced migration adds another layer of urgency to the conference’s finance agenda: especially as countries like Ethiopia spend three times more on debt repayment than on climate adaptation, their populations are increasingly threatened by climate-induced displacement.
Agriculture: a heavily affected sector
Not only Ethiopia, but in general, developing countries face intensified vulnerabilities in the food system, such as food insecurity, insufficient access to water, and decreased crop yields or livestock productivity due to extreme climate events. Smallholder families and livestock farmers are highly exposed to the consequences of global warming and many households live day to day by selling their products. They feel the urge to move seasonally or permanently because of the impacts of unpredictable weather conditions.
The World Migration Report which conducts research on migration and analyses its situation biennially, highlights that policies should address the complexity of interactions between mobility, climate, and food security. Not only because of the economic consequences of global warming, but also because of the rising vulnerability and human rights abuses of agricultural migrant workers. Another study published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), sets out that migration could contribute to agriculture development and economic growth as an adaptation strategy to climate change, but it has to be safe, orderly, and regular. Susanne Melde, PhD; Global Thematic Specialist Climate Action at IOM also highlights the potential of migration as an adaptation strategy to environmental and climate change as well as disasters in certain conditions. According to her, financing climate adaptation could “enable a Just transition through upskilling and greenskilling of migrants’ capacities in places of destination, as well as using their skills in origin areas to support the green transitions there.”
At COP29, food security and agriculture will be two of the main pillars. In particular, on Food, Agriculture and Water Day (19 November), the COP29 Presidency will launch the Harmoniya Climate Initiative for Farmers in Baku with the support of the FAO. Among other things, it aims to promote the development of climate-resilient villages and rural communities, strengthen the role of fishermen and farmers and enable adaptation measures in the areas of food, agriculture and water.
Climate migration to offer mutual benefits
In order to assure a Just Transition in which, again, “no one is left behind”, the European Commission has set up a fund as part of the European Green Deal Investment Plan, with a budget of EUR 17.5 billion for 2021 to 2027. It aims to support “the most negatively affected regions in the EU and people and to help alleviate the socioeconomic costs of the transition” towards climate neutrality. For example, in regions of strong coal industries like Romania, Poland or Bulgaria, workers and miners will be offered re-skilling programs to assure they have new job opportunities in other businesses when the EU will finally turn to more renewable energy sources. However, these programs are being criticised for not mentioning workers human rights or any social aspects and not taking into consideration the special needs of migrants in the implementation plans either, a group that makes a significant part of coal workers.
Nevertheless, the EU, with programs as the latter, seems to be focusing on the root causes for migration even without explicitly mentioning migrant workers. Same goes for the agricultural sector: The EU has set up various programs to support sustainable agriculture and food security. Looking back on migration and the opportunities for both countries of origin and destination, one strategy becomes especially interesting:„Farm to Fork“ (F2F), that focuses on food security and sustainability in many areas. With an ageing population and a shrinking workforce, especially in agriculture, legal migration can play a role in filling labour shortages in Europe and hence facilitating the green transition. Allowing nationals to go abroad to take work trainings could potentially benefit climate adaptation and innovation in countries of origin.
Make migration a choice
Programs like NaturAfrica, F2F, and climate funds are able to build a foundation for what is yet to come. As the climate crisis is aggravating, the EU is looking for sustainable solutions while at the same time trying to get everyone on the boat, not leaving anyone behind. With many troubling hot spots like the energy transition, agriculture, environmental crises, and an ageing workforce all around Europe, the climate crisis might be one of the biggest challenges the EU has to tackle.
COP29 offers an opportunity to bring this global issue into play. The UN Network on Migration is on the ground as an actor advocating for climate migration. It calls on all parties to ‘seize this moment to act decisively and find solutions that ensure safe, orderly and dignified migration’.
Finding a way to include climate migration openly “would help to ensure that an important part of the population in Europe could be involved in the transition process and would honour the pledge to leave no one behind”, as stated in a report by the IOM. For this to be achieved, the COP-states and the EU need to not only fund sustainable programs around Europe but also look towards other continents like Africa, where the crisis affects people even faster. It needs to work towards conditions, which help to ensure that migration is a choice, not necessity, as IOM Senior Analyst at the Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) Susanne Melde states.
Follow the comments:
|
