Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 30: Experts and policymakers from countries in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region concluded a three-day regional meeting on Wednesday by drafting a consolidated regional common position on climate change to present a unified front at the upcoming COP30 climate summit.
The Climate Change and Mobility in the IGAD Region meeting, held from October 27-29 in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, brought together experts and officials from ministries of environment, foreign affairs, planning, and disaster risk management from IGAD member states. Aiming to harmonize climate policies and negotiation priorities for the region, the meeting acknowledged that climate change is a major driver of displacement in the Horn of Africa, with available data showing over 3.5 million people displaced by climate-related shocks.
As the three-day regional meeting concluded Wednesday, a key meeting outcome was the formulation of a consolidated draft IGAD common position statement that will serve as the eight-member regional bloc’s strategic document in broader climate change negotiations at COP30 and beyond.
Victoria Anib, Head of Social Development at the IGAD Secretariat, outlined the complex nexus of challenges facing the region. “The region is grappling with a complex nexus of challenges, where climate variability fuels disasters, human mobility, and even exacerbates conflict and health crises,” she said.
She cited recent examples from Sudan where individuals displaced by conflict were then struck by devastating floods, leading to disease outbreaks. “It is not just numbers, it’s impacting our lives of pastoralists, life of farmers, life of women and children, vulnerable groups,” Anib remarked, stressing the need for policy dialogue to develop evidence-based solutions.
Deliberations at the regional meeting mainly focused on harmonizing IGAD member states’ climate policies and negotiation priorities ahead of the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference, or COP30.
The COP30 is slated to be held in Belem, Brazil, in November this year. It is expected to bring together world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and civil society actors to discuss priority actions to tackle climate change, with particular focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the presentation of new national action plans (NDCs), as well as the progress on the finance pledges made at the COP29.
Nigusu Lema, Deputy Director General of the Ethiopian Environmental Authority, underscored the gravity of the climate crisis across the Horn of Africa, as the region is increasingly confronted by the devastating impacts of climate change. He highlighted how rising temperatures and extreme weather are eroding livelihoods and driving displacement on an “unprecedented scale.”
The Ethiopian official positioned the meeting as a critical platform to facilitate high-level policy exchange and strengthen cooperation. Nigusu further underscored for countries in the region to “align our climate policy and negotiation priorities to ensure a strong, unified African voice that reflects the realities of our people and ecosystems.”
With discussions aimed to move beyond theory and develop concrete, evidence-based regional strategies, the regional gathering also served as a crucial platform to align IGAD and member states’ pledges on climate action for the upcoming Global Refugee Forum – the world’s largest international gathering on refugees that brings together UN member states and stakeholders to discuss and find solutions for the challenges faced by refugees and their host communities.
Echoing the sentiment, Noora K. Makela, Climate Action Division Program Officer at the UN Migration Agency (IOM) Regional Office, emphasized the importance of regional commitments – specifically the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (KDMECC) – in inspiring national action plans in countries like Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
Highlighting that human mobility, while often a consequence of crisis, can also become a pathway of resilience when planned and well managed, Makela underscored the crucial significance of the regional meeting towards ensuring that the issue of mobility is not sidelined but placed at the heart of the global climate negotiations.
Yahya Hassan Melaou, Head of Migration and Security at the National Coordination Office for Migration within Djibouti’s Ministry of Interior, stressed that the crucial role of focused deliberation among experts and concerned actors towards the successful formulation of a consolidated IGAD common position statement, which will serve as the regional bloc’s strategic document in broader climate change negotiations at COP30 and beyond.
Among the concrete recommendations emerging from the meeting are plans for community resilience pilots across member states. These initiatives, to be developed by IGAD and GIZ, are designed to address the root causes of forced displacement due to flooding, drought, and other climate-related shocks, it was noted.
Abokor Abdi Mahamoud, Advisor on Human Mobility at the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), highlighted the crucial importance of strengthening collaboration to strengthen analysis and forecast of climate-induced human mobility in the region.
The meeting emphasized that strong analytical and forecasting capacities are crucial for understanding climate mobility patterns. During the meeting deliberations, the IGAD Center for Climate Prediction and Application (ICPAC) showcased how enhanced forecasting can provide the necessary evidence for countries in the region to develop comprehensive strategies and build long-term resilience.
