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On January 30, 2025, a panel discussion titled “Global South Perspectives on Climate Change and Displacement” took place online. This event is the second webinar hosted by the IDRC Research Chairs on Forced Migration and supported by LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network. It featured Andrew Harper from UNHCR, Amal El Ouassif (Morocco), Desiree del Rosario (Dominican Republic), Opporutuna Kweka (Tanzania) and was moderated by Luisa Felina Freier (Peru). The discussion served as a reflection on the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), convened in Baku in November 2024, in addressing the impact of climate change on dynamics of forced displacement. In addition to focusing on supporting Global South to protect their people and economies against climate disasters and sharing the benefits of the clean energy boom, an objective of COP29 was to affirm the benefits of inclusive approaches that ensure the meaningful participation of highly vulnerable people from the climate frontlines. Given the limited progressed witnessed at COP29, the webinar asked if and how new forms of localized knowledge on the relationship between climate change and displacement can support innovative thinking on better responses.
Andrew Harper, as Special Advisor on Climate Action to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), opened the conversation with a presentation on climate change as a vulnerability multiplier, driving displacement and protection needs around the world. The relationship between climate change and displacement is not simple, but rather it requires us to consider the interlapping drivers of vulnerability which include, climate change, conflict and violence, water resources, demographics, food insecurity, migration and displacement and other moderating factors. Populations being affected must be included not only in the participation of research, but more importantly, in the decision making of policies.
The IDRC Research Chairs panelists reflected on COP29 and showcased the results of research from different regional contexts, highlighting the importance of localized knowledge and its inclusion in policy discussions. Prof. Opportuna Kweka as the IDRC Research Chair for Tanzania, outlined some of the local work that she and her research team have produced in Tanzania with nomadic pastoralists. Dr. Desiree del Rosario, as the IDRC Research Chair for the Dominican Republic, provided her reflections on COP29 from a Caribbean island context. There are inconsistencies between practice and discourse on how the commitment and perspective of small island states is assumed on the Island of Santo Domingo and in the Dominican Republic. Some of the work conducted by the Research Chair has looked at how women and girls continue to experience disadvantages. The elements that draw attention have to do with the absence of timely and effective responses from public policies and institutions. Dr. Amal El Ouassif, as the IDRC Research Chair for Morocco, reflected on the Migration and Climate Loss Fund COP29 highlighted how the lack of adequate financial commitments would have serious impacts for countries at the frontline of climate migration who will struggle to implement sustainable adaptation and resilience measures. Within the context of Morocco, current policies remain insufficient to address the complexity of migration as both an adaptive strategy and a forced displacement dynamic. In policy spaces, it is key to take a constructivist perspective as migration should not only be seen as a crisis but as a part of a broader climate resilience strategy.