Nansen Initiative +10: Reflecting on Legal, Normative and Policy Developments for People Displaced Across Borders in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change

Date: 15 December 2025
Time: 12:00 CEST
Location: Varembé Conference Centre (CCV), Geneva.
To register for this event, please email: events@disasterdisplacement.org

Background

October 2025 marks the 10^th anniversary of the endorsement of the Nansen Initiative Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the context of Disasters and Climate Change (Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda – NIPA). The Protection Agenda was the outcome of a three-year consultative process (the Nansen Initiative) aiming at identifying effective practices and building consensus on key principles and elements to address the protection needs of persons displaced across borders in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change.

The Nansen Initiative emerged from discussions at UNHCR’s Ministerial conference in 2011 and a pledge by Norway and Switzerland and was jointly launched by the 2 Governments at UNHCR’s 63^rd Executive Committee (ExCom) Meeting in 2012. The NIPA was endorsed by 109 governments following an intergovernmental global consultation on 12 and 13 October 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) was subsequently established in July 2016 as a State-led initiative to follow up on the work of the Nansen Initiative and to support States and other stakeholders to implement the recommendations of the NIPA.

Over the past decade, much has happened in awareness-raising and legal development on the protection of people displaced in the context of disasters and climate change – both at the institutional level and in legal and normative terms. UNHCR, a standing invitee to the Steering Group of the PDD, has been a key player in this process by reason of its international protection mandate that gives the agency a leadership role for people displaced across borders in need of international protection, as well as its international legal responsibilities for stateless and internally displaced persons.

The Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), resonates with the principles of the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda, calling for guidance and support to manage protection and humanitarian challenges, including for those forcibly displaced by disasters, in paragraph 63, and emphasizing that mechanisms to determine international protection claims of such persons must be available, fair and efficient to avoid protection gaps.

At the Global Refugee Forum in 2023, the GRF Multi-stakeholder pledge on Climate Action and Finance was announced by the “Core Group” consisting of the Governments of Denmark, Ethiopia, Germany, and Somalia, with the coordination support of UNHCR.  The Linked Event will showcase how partnerships and multistakeholder engagement advance the international protection, policy and laws dimensions of the Pledge. To date,125 contributions have been committed towards this Pledge.

Objectives

• Commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda, reflecting on its implementation progress and relevance 10 years after its endorsement.

• Reaffirm the relevance and applicability of existing instruments to provide international protection for those in need – including the 1951 Refugee Convention, regional instruments, and human rights law – in responding to cross-border displacement in the context of disasters and climate change.

• Showcase the ‘toolbox’ of legal guidance and examples of jurisdiction that have emerged in this area over the past decade, highlighting how States and partners are translating the principles of international protection into practice.

• Advance the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees, contribute to the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025, highlighting relevant practices, key achievements and lessons learned for the advancement of the GRF Multistakeholder Pledge on Climate Action, in terms of international protection and climate action that are inclusive of refugees, other forcibly displaced and stateless people.

• Explore future directions for regional and global engagement in the face of growing climate risks, reflecting recent Advisory Opinions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and any relevant COP30 outcomes.

• Mark the launch of the NIPA+10 blog series of the UNSW Kaldor Centre, with PDD and UNHCR.

Partners

The Linked Event is proposed by the PDD, in collaboration with UNHCR, the UNSW Kaldor Center and with support from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS).