Human mobility is the umbrella term to describe changes of residence, and encompasses migration, displacement and (planned) relocations. More intense and/or frequent extreme weather events and gradual changes in the climate and environment are already affecting many people and their livelihoods. Migration and displacement are multi-causal, complex phenomena that need to be addressed and understood within the wider context of increasing human mobility. In the future, the adverse effects of climate change will continue to have significant impacts on human mobility and be major influencing factors in people’s decisions to leave their homes.
Existing migration patterns, in particular movements within state boarders and regions, are most likely to intensify. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) finances the Global Programme on Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change. The programme seeks to expand the knowledge base of German development cooperation and its partners on developing future-oriented management approaches to deal with human mobility in the context of climate change.
Contacts
Global Programme - Dorothea Rischewski ([email protected])
Pacific Component - Christian Goerg([email protected])
Actions
The programme is essentially focusing on:
1. Supporting our partners at regional, national and sub-national level in managing human mobility in the context of climate change through participatory approaches.
2. Developing information and resources on climate-induced human mobility. These processes will involve relevant stakeholders from partner countries and regions in identifying existing knowledge and closing subject-related gaps e.g. through capacity building and institutionalizing exchange platforms.
3. Supporting international processes by feeding knowledge and experiences from the partner regions into German and international development cooperation.
Activities
- Supporting our partners:
- Advising and collaborating with national partners, regional organizations and development partners as well as civil society organizations and academia to discuss ways to establish or formalize joint working groups, exchanges and work plans on human mobility in the context of climate change;
- Promoting participatory development of governance structures on local, subnational and national roles and responsibilities considering human rights and gender aspects;
- Piloting measures to strengthen stakeholders’ capacities e.g. through training courses.
- Generating knowledge:
- Reviewing existing information and identifying gaps in research on human mobility in the context of climate change by looking at policies, strategies,laws, census data, post disaster needs assessments, climate risk assessment, specific studies, etc.;
- Developing and disseminating technical guidance on climate-induced human mobility through various media, studies and workshops;
- Systematising and implementing existing and generated knowledge in databases, information systems and other formats of institutionalized information exchange.
- Advising German and international development cooperation:
- Analysing the knowledge gained from the activities in partner countries and regions, and making it available for German and international development cooperation as well as for international processes;
- Identifying important topics for international processes in consultation with partners, practitioners and experts from relevant institutions, agencies, academia, civil society and the private sector.
- Pacific Component activities
- Collaborating with national governments – Fiji’s Planned Relocation Guidelines (2018)
- Organising Scenario Workshops for climate change and human mobility in the Pacific context (2019)
- Awareness raising year in partnership with the University of the South Pacific’s School of Geography, Earth Sciences and Environment (2019)
- Development of a Gender Toolkit for the Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change Pacific component (2019)
- Communications and Media awareness raising through art – photo exhibitions and video of relocated communities and their stories (2019)