Climate migration and displacement are a reality today. Sea-level rise, crop failures, and record temperatures will drive an unprecedented movement of people. According to a World Bank report, by 2050, climate impacts could force more than 200 million people to move within their countries across six regions. Globally, it is estimated that up to a billion people could be driven from their homes within the next 30 years – less than half a lifetime. If this happens, human civilization will not have experienced migration on such a scale in its history.
It is likely that those who leave their homes will settle in cities, which are already the primary destination of international and internal migrants and home to 70 percent of the world’s refugees, internally displaced persons, and stateless people.
In response, C40 Cities (C40) and the Mayors Migration Council (MMC) established the Global Mayors Task Force on Climate and Migration. Guided by the mayors of Barcelona, Bristol, Dakar, Dhaka North, Freetown, Houston, Los Angeles, Lima, and Milan, the C40-MMC Task Force is a mayor-led initiative to accelerate local, national, regional, and global responses to the climate crisis and human mobility in cities.
The Global Mayors Action Agenda on Climate and Migration is the result of our work for presentation at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) in November 2021 in dialogue with national and regional counterparts.
This Action Agenda presents our approach to the complex links between climate and migration in our cities. It presents the principles that guide our approach, actions we need global and international partners to take with us, and areas where we are already leading by example.
For more information on the C40-MMC Task Force visit our webpage or contact us at climate@mayorsmigrationcouncil.org.
Statement of Principles:
We, as mayors of major cities across the globe, deal with the realities of climate change and migration on a daily basis. This includes protecting residents from extreme heat, flooding, or other hazards; welcoming people displaced by climate impacts domestically or internationally; and promoting climate justice and leaving no one behind in the green transition. To date, our efforts have been delivered with limited resources and fragmented policy and financing regimes.
Together, we commit to accelerate global responses to climate and migration and to govern our action and advocacy by the following principles:
Actions needed from national governments and international institutions:
As mayors, we are already working to put people at the center of our climate action. We call on national and regional governments, central banks and international financial institutions, and international organizations to join us.
Our calls to action are:
URBAN RESILIENCE
1. Significantly increase planning for – and public and private investment in – urban climate adaptation, especially in low-income countries.
2. Recognize migration as a form of adaptation when mitigation or in-place adaptation is no longer viable, incorporate migration-related considerations into national climate action strategies, and include migrants in disaster risk reduction and response.
URBAN INCLUSION
3. Recognize and address the protection needs of climate migrants and displaced people.
4. Remove barriers and support communities in welcoming migrants and displaced persons.
URBAN TRANSFORMATION
5. Invest in a green and just transition in cities to create secure and sustainable employment for all, including migrants and displaced people.
6. Harness the skills and contributions of migrants and displaced people for the green transition.
C40-MMC Task Force Members:
