World Day to Combat Desertification 2015
Global Observance Event
Conference Centre, Milano Expo, 17 June 2015.
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[Left] Mr Pohamba Shifeta, Namibia’s Minister of Environment and Tourism.
[Right] Mr Giampaolo Cantini, Director General of Development Cooperation at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. © IOM 2015
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The World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD), observed annually on June 17th, highlights the importance of raising awareness on the growing risks linked to land degradation. This year, a global observance event, organized jointly by the Government of Italy and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), was held at the Expo Milan 2015 on the theme of ‘attainment of food security for all’.
Among the several issues identified, the 2015 observance day called for an improvement in land use practices through “smart” agriculture and adaptation to climate change; access to technology and land rights for small holder farmers; more investments in sustainable land practices; and more effective action on desertification.
Moreover, environmentally-induced migration was also one of the topics addressed during the 2015 WDCD: human mobility in non-industrialized countries is significantly linked to land degradation, forcing smallholders to face the issue of food security.
Mr. Giampaolo Cantini, was among the keynote speakers who drew attention to the links between environmental factors, poverty, social unrest, conflicts, and migration.
Mr. Pohamba Shifeta also highlighted the risks associated with land degradation and ensuing food insecurity, hunger, poverty, political instability, conflicts and migration. He illustrated the results of a recent study projecting the future impacts of climate change in Namibia, which may reduce pastureland from grassland to desert and arid shrub-land.
Desertification, land degradation and drought are major drivers of forced and environmentally-induced migration. Desertification, exacerbated by climate change, can indeed threaten agriculture and livestock and impact nomadic populations, resulting in new migration patterns increasing tensions with the sedentary farmers and with the pastoralist groups.
Read about IOM and UNCCD's joint project, “Promoting Sustainable Land Management in migration-prone areas through innovative financing mechanisms”, implemented in West Africa to engage governments and diaspora in harnessing the investments for land rehabilitation.
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TransRe International Short Course:
Does Climate Change Move You?
University of Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand. 22-26 June 2015.
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TransRe, a practice-oriented research project based at the Department of Geography, University of Bonn, organized a short course on the impacts of climate change on migration, co-sponsored by IOM. The course brought together 15 students from diverse countries including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia and Greece to discuss theoretical frameworks and potential research tools that can be used to understand MECC. IOM's MECC Project Associate (Sabira Coelho) of the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific attended as a resource person and presented on national and regional policy responses to MECC, and IOM’s work in the field. The Regional Office, IOM Thailand are now in the process of finalizing an exchange of letters with TransRe to enhance collaboration and cooperation in this field, particularly on policy dialogues, capacity building, training manuals and future projects.
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Assessing the Evidence: Migration, Environment and Climate Change in Papua New Guinea
In the framework of the European Union–funded Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy (MECLEP) project, this first national assessment brings together existing evidence on the migration, environment and climate change nexus in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The report provides a review of environmental migration materialized in local realities and compiles data from a wide variety of sources. The aim of the report is twofold. First, it provides an overview of PNG’s exposure to environmental and climatic changes, as well as the factors influencing human vulnerability. It maps the complex relationship between migration, environment and climate change, and particularly looks at two case studies of Carteret Islanders and people displaced by the volcanic eruption in Manam Island since 2004. Second, it examines the existing policy frameworks and offers guidance to integrate environmental migration in PNG’s national planning. Based on the review of the existing policy framework and the key findings, the report offers a “policy toolkit” with suggestions of policy options and identified priorities.
This publication is one of six national assessments to be published under the MECLEP project. Assessment reports for the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Kenya, Mauritius and Viet Nam are forthcoming.
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MECC: Policy Brief Series - Issue 3
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Migration and Natural Resource Scarcity within the Context of Climate Variability in West Africa
Stephen A. Adaawen, Vanessa Dreier and Papa Sow
Migration – internal and international – is an important feature of the social lives of people across West Africa. While movements within the subregion are generally due to complex and multi-causal factors, natural resource scarcity has served to influence movements especially in rural areas. Drawing from research in rural north-western Benin, this policy brief looks at the effect of migration on the in-land fisheries subsector and emphasizes the need for effective participation of all stakeholders in the management of natural resources to improve livelihoods in the region facing population growth and climate variability.
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VIDEO Highlights: Migration and Climate Change in West Africa
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[Video - French Only] Barbara Bendandi on land degradation, climate change and migration at "Désertif'Actions 2015", a civil society international forum dedicated to land degradation and combating desertification, held from 10 to 13 June 2015 in Montpellier, France.
Official Website: www.desertif-actions.fr
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Research Database Updates
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