Opening Session, 21 June 2021 | Chair: Carmit Lubanov, AEJI
Opening words
I am honored to be here, on the occasion of the international Workshop on Climate Migration host by University of Calabria.
The roots of this workshop are back about 3 years ago – when a small group from Israel together with colleagues from Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon, established a forum on cross-continental climate migration and the Mediterranean. We were then members of international climate working group, formed after the Paris Agreement.
The days of summer 2018 were of the international process of formation the Global Compact - for the first time having a potential to cause, in our view, a significant paradigm shift.
The 'Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration' (GCM), signed in New York on December 2018, seeks to cover “all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner".
It is an intergovernmental negotiated agreement which is legally non-binding but - opens a window for a stronger anchoring climate-induced migration into the international migration discourse and agenda.
So, we thought there is no better time to bring the issue of climate migration – Officially to be part of Migration accord.
Unfortunately, we were not able to convince the heads of the Global Compact of the importance of raising the climate migration as part of the crowded discourse of migration back only 2,3 years ago.
But - to my delight, three years later - and the discourse is already changing.
Although 'Climate migration' is not yet a legal term recognized by international institutions, but we are making constant progress - and the workshop here is hosting distinguished representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
In recent years, scientific knowledge is expanding, partnerships between organizations and various stakeholders are being woven.
The current project is an expression of this progress. Anna Lindh Foundation, an important stakeholder in the Euro-Med region, is a partner in this learning process, and we thank them for choosing the project and support this workshop.
Please find Carmit' full speech in the link below
