Frame of a house on a Pacific Island with text promoting side event

COP26 Hybrid Event | From Science to Policy and Action: Human Mobility in Times of Climate Change

October 28, 2021
Events, Press Releases

11 November 2021, 13:00 – 14:00 GMT / 14:00 – 15:00 CET

Register for the EU Pavilion Events Portal to gain access to this event taking place at COP26. Specific event sign-up begins from 1 November.

Large-scale movements of people, driven by a number of factors including climate change, affect regions across the world. Countries such as Pacific Island States, and marginalized communities such as children and youth, are particularly impacted. Displacement related to the adverse effects of climate change should in principle be averted or minimized, unless it is life-saving (e.g. evacuations). It creates humanitarian challenges, affects human rights, undermines development and may, in some situations, affect human security.

The need for robust action and support to avert, minimize and address displacement is evidenced by the best available science, which tells us that we are already living in a climate emergency. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, including the work of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage Associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM) and its Task Force on Displacement (TFD), offer a framework for action. But how is science and policy linked? And, crucially, how does this impact those most affected by climate change?

This hybrid event, From Science to Policy and Action: Human Mobility in Times of Climate Change, is co-organized by the PDD, the German Council on Foreign Relations, the International Youth Federation, Youth4Nature and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. It aims to provide an improved awareness and understanding of:

the best available science related to human mobility in a changing climate, and how science can and should inform policy;
the need for coherent and integrated approaches to policy development to address the opportunities and challenges related to human mobility;
effective practices for addressing human mobility, their challenges and lessons learned; and
the disproportionate impacts of climate change on children and youth in particular, as well as other affected communities, including on their mobility and opportunities for personal development.

The event will also develop recommendations to the COP on preparing for and addressing human mobility in a changing climate.

Join us to hear from:

Dr. Kira Vinke, German Council on Foreign Relations and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;
Mrs Julia Blocher, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and International Youth Federation;
Mr. Ahmad Yazan Miri, Youth4Nature;
Mr Nacanieli Bolo, Pacific Response to Disaster Displacement Project (IDMC);
The Pacific Island Forum Secretariat;
The Government of Fiji.

The event will be moderated by Mr François Gemenne of The Hugo Observatory.

COP26 will be host to a number of other events exploring the subject of displacement and human mobility in a changing climate. Navigate to our summary of Disaster Displacement at COP26 to find out more. We look forward to seeing you there!