The Third National Forum on Migration and Climate Change Unveils Challenges and Opportunities for Guatemala

The Third National Forum on Migration and Climate Change – held on July 3, 2024 in Guatemala City – was co-hosted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINEX), and the Guatemala Institute of Migration (IGM), together with the Alliance and CGIAR FOCUS Climate Security, with support from the CGIAR initiatives on Fragility, Conflict and Migration (FCM), Climate Resilience, and AgriLAC Resiliente. The event underscored the importance of discussing the intersection between migration and climate change to motivate government institutions, civil society organizations, local communities, academia, religious organizations and international agencies to find synergies that impact local initiatives and public policies.

The event showcased various perspectives on the topic. National-level representatives from the Ministries of Environment, Migration and Foreign Affairs discussed existing national and international legal frameworks. Departmental-level representatives shared their experiences and lessons learned from previous departmental forums that took place in Izabal and Escuintla in May. Community representatives spoke about the impacts of climate change on their lives and its connection to migration. CGIAR presented findings from the study Community Voices on Climate, Peace and Security in Guatemala  that relates to displacement as well as seasonal and external migration, examining patterns and their interlinkages with socioeconomic, security, environmental and climatic factors, and a second study exploring the intersection between climate change, human security and irregular migration with a gender perspective and based on local knowledge and experiences.