LFJM COP 2020

Resolution 2 : Environmental migration

Proposed by Hannibal Anthon, Luka Citron, Galadriel Daufresne, Scarlet  Wilson Delaye 

Since 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been forecasting that strong human migrations would be a major consequence of climate change and the rise of the level of sea waters. We understand today that these warnings were truthful as 25 million of people on earth are forced to move every year due to natural catastrophes mainly caused by climate change. The situation is critical in many different locations around the world for populations who slowly see the day where they will be forced to leave their houses come closer. This is the case for the inhabitants of Beijing who observe the Gobi desert grow by 10000km² per year becoming a bigger menace to their lives by day. Similarly, in the Arctic circle, the melting of the far north’s permafrost will drive local populations to leave their homelands.

Acknowledging that the rise in sea levels is mainly due to the melting of land ice, caused by the continuous increase in temperatures. This corroborates the urgency of dealing with global warming as part of this discussion.

Noting with concern that the world will have 150–200 million climate change refugees by 2050

Recognising that during the 2020 LFJM COP the countries, organisations and companies will have to work toward solving the major issue which has already been one for the last 10 years and will become growingly important in the future, the environmental migration.

Alarmed by, according to the fourth IPCC report, in 2004, the 49 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent emitted by the following human activities:
- energy sector is 25.9%;
- industry at 19.4%;
- the forestry sector at 17.4%;
- agriculture at 13.5%;
- transport at 13.1%;
- homes at 7.9%;
- waste and wastewater at 2.8%.

These different human activities are the main causes of the growth of CO2 emissions resulting in a higher temperature on earth and which therefore increases the melting of ice and as a consequence environmental migration.

The many actors of this COP will therefore have to work hard together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by focusing on some of these activities, in particular those which have an important share in the greenhouse gas emissions, in particular by making compromises to resolve the growing problem of environmental migration.

Discussion points:
- Urges the construction of sea walls, storm water pumps and upgrading sewage systems to slow down the rise of sea levels.
- Calls for financial help to invest in solutions to slow land sinkage.
- Recognising that countries directly impacted by migration are the ones that contribute the least in gas emissions and should therefore receive important support from the more responsible countries.
- Calls for good emergency planning and adaptation policies which mitigate the wet and dry extremes of our changing climate that will reduce pressures on migration
- Advises the raising of awareness of the EU-funded project implemented by IOM on 'Mainstreaming Migration into International Cooperation and Development' (MMICD project) that developed a video that serves as both a training and outreach tool to showcase the #MigrationConnection