Seoul — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in the Republic of Korea (ROK), in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), hosted on 30 November a webinar on the Climate Change, Conflict and Migration (CCM) Nexus.  

Coinciding with the opening of COP28, the event aimed to raise awareness among ROK humanitarian professionals and general public of the human side of climate change impacts on the ground, particularly through the lens of conflict and human mobility. The event was attended by 85 NGO workers, academia, government officials and other relevant professionals. 

Led by Angeli Monique SILADAN, Senior Programme Support Assistant, and Jhala Grace SALAS, Project Assistant of IOM Philippines, the webinar started off by offering a global overview on climate change, conflicts and displacement trends, along with their interconnectedness. The discussion then moved on to a comprehensive introduction of the Nexus of Transformative Solutions for Peace and Climate Adaptation (NEXT) project supported by the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) and implemented by IOM Philippines in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).  

During the webinar, the speakers shared key insights gained from such experience. Serving as an example of IOM’s intervention in addressing the complex issue of the CCM Nexus, the programme sought to provide an evidence-based assistance for capacity and resilience building in conflict-prone communities in BARMM. It extensively engaged local stakeholders, including government authorities and community members, for a participatory study on the interlinkages between climate change and conflict. The initiative, in particular, emphasized the impacts on human mobility posed by the CCM nexus and offered multi-layered assistance to address the identified issues, such as technical policy advisory and livelihood opportunities in climate mobility.  

“Various factors, including environmental risks, socio-economic challenges and governance gaps, often overlap each other, and there is no determined start or end. Rather, there is a push-and-pull factor among these issues,” said the speakers. “What is certain is that violence and mobility have become the core impact of the Climate Change, Conflict and Migration Nexus, and clashes are inevitable when all these three factors are not addressed from the root. Looking into such framework does not only help identify problems but also present potential solutions for the communities constantly affected by violent events.” 

The webinar was part of IOM’s quarterly knowledge-sharing series to enhance the preparedness and response capacity of the ROK humanitarian professionals to natural and man-made emergencies. Since 2014, IOM ROK, with support from USAID, has been supporting ROK humanitarian actors with capacity enhancement, including awareness-raising and advocacy activities, targeting both the general public and humanitarian professionals.   

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For more information, please contact Eunice Jieun KIM, IOM Republic of Korea Mission, Tel.: +82 70 4820 0291, Email: jikim@iom.int.