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UNFCCC - COP21
30 November - 12 December 2015
Paris, France
Negotiations and Outcome
After two weeks of intense negotiations, delegates of 195 States on 12 December 2015 adopted the Paris Agreement in a decision described by many as historic. The legally binding agreement seeks to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in order to halt global warming. During the conference that was accompanied by numerous side events, workshops and other activities involving almost 40,000 people representing national and local governments, civil society, the private sector, and research, environmental migration figured prominently on the agenda. Throughout the conference several side events directly addressed the topic and environmental migration appeared as a cross-cutting issue in the global negotiations. This resulted in the inclusion of migration in the Preamble of the legally binding agreement:
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"Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind, Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity."
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The negotiators also integrated a reference to displacement in the Decisions to give effect to the agreement in “Loss and Damage”:
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"Also requests the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism to establish, [...] a task force to complement, draw upon the work of and involve, as appropriate, existing bodies and expert groups under the Convention including the Adaptation Committee and the Least Developed Countries Expert Group, as well as relevant organizations and expert bodies outside the Convention, to develop recommendations for integrated approaches to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change."
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The negotiators also integrated a reference to displacement in the Decisions to give effect to the agreement in “Loss and Damage”:
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The fact that environmental migration was taken up by the delegates was also due to the effort of the Advisory Group on Climate Change and Human Mobility, composed of UNHCR, the IOM, UNU-EHS, UNDP, NRC/IDMC, Refugees International (RI), Sciences Po-CERI, and the Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED). The work of the Advisory Group is anchored in decisions of UNFCCC Parties to enhance understanding and action in the area of climate change induced displacement, migration and planned relocation. “Human mobility” is an umbrella term that encompasses displacement of populations, migration and planned relocation.
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