Call for Urgent Action to Address Climate Migration

On January 27, 2023, the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), António Vitorino, and climate justice activist, Greta Thunberg, jointly called for immediate action and greater solidarity to address the impacts of climate change on human mobility.

​The message focused on preventing climate migration and, where appropriate, protecting it throughout the migration process.

Both considered climate migration as an emergency and the fundamental role played by young people.
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In this message, it was recalled that 20 million people are internally displaced annually due to the effects of climate change.

They pointed to the urgent need to prevent global environmental crises and address the impacts behind climate migration. It was recognized that climate migration is a reality and that solutions need to be found both for people who stay and for people who move. It is a matter of climate justice. The populations most affected by climate change are the populations that have contributed the least to global warming. It is a matter of solidarity and co-responsibility for the fate of those populations that already today experience human suffering associated with climate change in their daily lives. In this regard, it is recalled that more than 15 million people in Somalia and Pakistan alone are in need of humanitarian aid due to the recent extreme weather events.

The Greta Thunberg Foundation has donated EUR 275,000 (USD 269,000) to support IOM's emergency response to the affected communities in Pakistan and in Somalia.

See more information on:  IOM Migration, Environment, Climate Change and Risk Reduction activities.