United Nations Radio

A treaty set to be signed in Copenhagen later this year, that will succeed the Kyoto protocol, should include the humanitarian impact of climate change.

Floods in Haiti

This appeal was made by aid agencies attending climate change talks in Bonn led by the Secretariat of the UN Climate Change Convention, the UNFCCC.

UN Radio's Patrick Maigua spoke to Philippe Boncour of the International Organization for Migration, one of the 18 organizations involved, to find out what prompted the appeal. Mr. Boncour says it is based on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC.

Boncour: First of all, it was the striking omission of the humanitarian impact of climate change in the UNFCCC convention and the Kyoto Protocol, because already in its first assessment report back in 1990, the IPCC posited that "the greatest effects of climate change might be on human mobility." So the problem is well-known, but for the time being, the discussions have mainly concentrated on economic issues, leaving aside the human face of climate change.

Maigua: And what evidence is there, linking increased humanitarian needs to climate change?

Boncour: The increase in frequency and in intensity of climate disasters has been very clearly demonstrated again by the IPCC in 2007, and just today, Ms. Elisabeth Rasmussen, the Executive Secretary of the Norwegian Refugee Council, kind of unveiled the first outcome of a study they have commissioned, together with OCHA, and that study demonstrates that only in 2008, 20 million people were displaced due to the effect of only sudden-onset climate hazards. That does not even take into account those people who have been forced, or who have decided to move for reasons of gradual environmental degradation.

Maigua: What kind of action do you want governments to take in terms of addressing the issue of climate change on humanitarian work?

Boncour: Well, you know, in the context of the UNFCCC, there are several pillars under discussion. The one which is of utmost interest to us as humanitarians, is obviously the adaptation pillar, because under that adaptation pillar, you can consider both disaster-risk reduction, which is a key element of the humanitarian strategy and approach, and you can also consider modifying the existing national adaptation plans, to either expand their scope beyond the least developed countries, which is the limitation for the time being, or also expanding the mandate to include human mobility issues at large and migration issues in particular.

Maigua: Are humanitarian agencies feeling that they might get overwhelmed by increased need for humanitarian relief if issues of climate change are not addressed in Copenhagen?

Boncour: That's pretty certain, because already now, let's say, the share of climate-related hazards in the overall number of disasters is pretty high and our needs, be it financial or staffing needs are also limited, and we need ourselves to adapt to that new, demanding situation. And this is why for us it is key, and actually I would like to underscore that it has been sufficiently important, to trigger a joint letter, signed by all heads of agencies, and addressed to Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC and to the state parties, calling on them to precisely, in the course of the negotiations include that humanitarian impact and also the human mobility impact. Because, we believe that any post-Kyoto agreement in 2012 that would leave aside those important aspects, would present a kind of major gap.

PRES: Philippe Boncour, Head of the International Dialogue on Migration Division at IOM.

(duration: 4'15")