(IOM) September 4, 2009 – Geneva, Switzerland – IOM Director General William Lacy Swing and Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), have today signed a cooperation agreement pledging closer cooperation between the two organizations in the field of climate change, the environment and migration.

The agreement between IOM and UNEP marks a growing recognition of the need to jointly address climate change, environmental degradation and migration in a comprehensive manner at policy, research and programmatic level at Headquarters and in field locations where both organizations are represented.

The two organizations will focus on concrete joint efforts to:

– Develop and enhance policy, operational coherence and planning at the national and international levels

– Develop joint research and exchange of information on the links between climate change, environment and migration in order to make this information publicly available

– Build the capacity of governments and other relevant stakeholders to respond effectively to the challenges presented by the cross-section between climate change, environment and migration

– Develop and implement joint programmes in the area of climate change, environment and migration to promote the positive contribution of migration to sustainable development and to support the adaptation of vulnerable groups and states affected by climate change in order to mitigate its negative effects

– Develop and implement environmentally-sustainable migration management programmes, including in crisis migration management and long-term solutions.

IOM and UNEP will also explore collaborative efforts in areas related to public-health, including the development and implementation of health-related programmes for populations displaced by, or on the move, as a result of environmental factors.

Source: IOM