Climate Change and Displacement in Asia: Emerging Trends, Available Evidence, and Building Resilience

Climate change is dramatically reshaping the regional risk landscape in Asia and the Pacific.

Numerous countries are dealing with overlapping climate and conflict crises, highlighted by historic flooding across Pakistan in September. Already one of the largest refugee hosting countries in the world, those floods led to more than 1500 lives being lost, 7.9 million people reportedly displaced, and more than 2 million houses damaged. Similar trends are being witnessed throughout the region, which sees the majority of the world’s disaster displacement each year. This trend is projected to continue, with Asia- Pacific forecast to be the most impacted region relative to global averages by heavy precipitation, drought, heatwaves, and warning winds.

Climate action is the focus of a multi-stakeholder pledgeLink is external at the Global Refugee Forum in 2023, and is inextricably linked to the first objective of the Global Compact on Refugees, which acknowledges the need for responsibility sharing to address the reality of increasing displacement driven by disasters, environmental degradation and climate change. In that context, this virtual discussion between policymakers, practitioners, researchers and affected communities will be an opportunity to discuss inclusive laws and policies, share good practices and emerging lessons, and underline the need for scaled-up financing and collaboration at the national, regional and global levels.

Draft Agenda

UNHCR and CGIAR will convene this event on Monday, 11 December 2023, 13:00 – 14:00 local time in Bangkok (UTC + 7:00). The discussion will be open to all stakeholders, with pre-registration required to access the virtual platform.

The tentative run of show is as follows:

• 13:00 – 13:15: Opening remarks from UNHCR and CGIAR

• 13:15 – 13:40: Panel Discussion between a refugee representative, a government partner from a refugee host country, a leading academic on climate-related displacement and mobility, and a practitioner on climate resilience and development.

• 13:40 – 13:55: Question and answer with virtual audience

• 13:55 – 14:00: Closing Remarks

Discussion Questions

• How are worsening climate hazards already interacting with other drivers of displacement such as conflict and violence to influence displacement, particularly in South and South-East Asia?
• What are future projections for climate-related displacement and the impacts of climate change on already displaced communities and their hosts?
• Are these dynamics and trends being fully captured by current research, early warning systems and other available data and information, including local and indigenous knowledge?
• What policy avenues exist for climate adaptation and improving the resilience of displaced populations, and the communities that host them, in the region?
• How can regional, national and local policy and programming interventions work with displaced communities to better address climate vulnerability, and how can climate adaptation in displacement settings be more conflict-sensitive?
• How are human mobility issues considered in existing Disaster Risk Reduction strategies, National Adaptation Plans, and Nationally Determined Contributions in the region? Are there any best practices to highlight?
• How can researchers and humanitarian-development-peace practitioners work in closer alignment with each other, and with communities, to fill evidence gaps and translate knowledge into impact?