Virtual Event | Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week 2021

May 5, 2021
Events

Risk Management and Human Mobility: Action and Support to Avert, Minimize and Address Displacement Related to the Adverse Effects of Climate Change

Latin America and the Caribbean Climate Week 2021, hosted by the Government of the Dominican Republic

11 May, 2021

13:00 – 14:00 Dominican Republic time / 19:00 – 18:00 CET

2021 is a historic year for global climate action at COP26. This is the year we either lose sight of the Paris targets, or it is the year we start implementing the Paris Agreement. It is our opportunity to increase global climate ambition in COVID-19 recovery and kick-start a decade of action.

The Regional Climate Weeks 2021 build momentum towards success at COP26, and on 11 May the Latin America and the Caribbean Climate Week 2021 (LACCW2021) will begin! The LACCW2021 Virtual Thematic Sessions will take the pulse of climate action in the region, explore climate challenges and opportunities, and showcase ambitious solutions. It will provide a platform for regional stakeholders to have their voice heard and contribute to COP26.

1. Background

Large-scale movements of people, with climate change acting as both a risk multiplier and a driver, affect regions across the world. Countries and communities most vulnerable to climate change, including Small Island Developing States in the Americas and the Caribbean, are particularly affected by different forms of human mobility related to the adverse impacts of climate change. The multifaceted impacts of climate change – both in terms of extreme events and slow-onset events and processes – on human mobility have received increasing attention in recent years.

The adoption of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) represents a milestone in the international response to the challenges of human mobility the adverse effects of climate change. COP21 mandated the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM) associated with Climate Change Impacts to establish a Task Force on Displacement (TFD) specifically to ‘develop recommendations for integrated approaches to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change’.

At the regional and national level, global attention has been translated through the development of new evidence and policy practices, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean. The region sits at the forefront of innovative national policy initiatives and a wealth of research, looking at preventing and addressing the impact of climate change on displacement, migration and other forms of human mobility, including planned relocation. Despite these advances, both the research and policymaking dimensions require further efforts to address evidence gaps, strengthen policy coherence and implement concrete interventions.

2. Objective of the event

How can regional and national efforts be further supported to manage climate change related risks, be better prepared and address residual risks and the challenges of human mobility? Understanding better the challenges of human mobility related to disasters and climate change, adapting a risk approach in terms of adaptation and loss and damage and pursuing the integration of human mobility in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) remain critical priorities for the region.

This event will provide an opportunity to review progress achieved in Latin America and the Caribbean on averting, minimizing and addressing displacement related to the adverse effects of climate change in line with the recommendations of the TFD since 2015. Specifically, this session seeks to share evidence, effective practices and discuss opportunities for scaling up action and support at the national and regional level. It will enable discussion around major challenges and needs in the region, and identify opportunities for the replication of successful initiatives and action on managing risks related to human mobility in the context of the adverse effects of climate change. Speakers will include Government representatives from Chile and Peru, climate change specialists as well as representatives from the International Organization for Migration, the Platform on Disaster Displacement, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage and others.

Join us and register your participation for this session to take stock of progress, share evidence and effective practices, and discuss innovative opportunities to avert, minimize and address displacement in these contexts.
To register for this session and other Virtual Thematic Sessions during the Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week 2021, register here.

✍️?Register now for the Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week 2021!

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— UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) May 5, 2021