Human Rights, Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration: A New Paradigm

Discussion at launch of this MPI-IOM Issue in Brief, Human Rights, Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration: A New Paradigm, which focuses on the vulnerability of environmental migrants and how the international legal framework can better ensure their protection, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

Climate change and environmental degradation are predicted to displace millions of people in the coming years, either directly or indirectly. While today’s international legal framework provides a degree of protection to those displaced by environmental factors and climatic events, there is no global consensus on a definition for such a group. In the absence of this, gaps in the legal system, and in implementation, how can recognition of the vulnerability of environmental migrants be facilitated and their protection ensured? This Issue in Brief from MPI and the International Organization for Migration explores how to protect climate change-induced migrants, particularly in the highly vulnerable Asia-Pacific region.

This discussion covers these critical issues and is the launch of the Issue in Brief, Human Rights, Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration: A New Paradigm, the eighth in an MPI and IOM joint-publication series offering succinct insights on migration issues affecting the Asia-Pacific region today.

Speakers:

Rabab Fatima, Regional Coordinator and Advisor for South and South West Asia & Regional Adviser for Climate Change and Migration, IOM Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

 

Moderators:

Andrew Bruce, Regional Director, IOM Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Commentators:

Suzanne Kelly-Lyall, Director, Governance and Institutional Capacity Building, Mekong Partnership for the Environment

Thomas Vargas, Senior Regional Protection Adviser, UNHCR

Katja Christina Nordgaard, Ambassador of Norway to Thailand

Edgar Badajos, Minister and Consul General, Embassy of the Philippines to Thailand

Sponsors

International Organization for Migration

About the Global Program

The Global Program bridges policy advice, research, and candid dialogue to design effective migration policies, drawing on global evidence and anticipating the forces reshaping how people move.