As COP28 unfolded in Dubai, 125 leading climate and migration justice groups called on UK political party leaders to back a “right to move and right to stay” approach to climate-linked migration.

5th December 2023 | sign the letter | learn more | take action | share

Dear UK Party Leaders,

Climate change has no borders, so governments have a global responsibility to keep communities safe from its consequences and protected when they need to move.

This year saw the hottest month in 100,000 years, followed immediately after by extreme floods and storms. Here in the UK and across the world, floods, droughts, extreme weather, bad harvests, and altered ecosystems are changing how and where we live. We must slash our use of fossil fuels – and overturn the systems of extraction, exploitation and oppression fuelling this crisis. But this alone won’t stop disruption happening. We must also act now to protect people in the UK and around the world from the worst consequences of climate change.

Right now, people are deciding to move – mostly within their countries, but sometimes across borders. Their journeys are often dangerous, with people making journeys across harsh environments, through unsafe places, and unable to reach sanctuary. Powerful countries often worsen their journeys with the weapons and walls of violent border regimes, using resources that could be helping rather than harming – the border industry was worth $68bn USD in 2020  and is fast growing. In these insecure conditions, people can become even more vulnerable to exploitation and modern slavery.

It doesn’t have to be this way. With support and organisation, we can ensure that more people can stay in their homes and communities, can move without facing further danger, and can access support during an emergency. We can ensure that all of us have real choices in how they adapt to climate emergencies – rather than having to wait for disaster to strike. 

As COP28 unfolds, we are calling on UK Leaders to recognise how climate change is impacting people’s lives and work to protect them through: 

1. Recognising migration as a form of climate adaptation, and avoiding the use of the “hostile environment” and harsher border policies in response to humanitarian emergencies.
2. Committing to supporting both the right to stay and the right to move, both at home and overseas; through providing resources for communities to manage climate impacts, through providing safe pathways to at-risk communities, and through immediate support in emergencies.  
3. Working within existing international processes and frameworks on climate and displacement to ensure that all nations play their part – especially the largest polluters. 
4. Commit to a fair and equitable phase out of fossil fuels.
5. Including the voices of migrants and refugees in the development of national action plans on climate change. 

People have always moved in search of better lives throughout history – the choice is not whether we prevent it from happening. Either we can remain on the current course, where migration is unsafe, unpredictable, and driven by emergencies. Or we can invest in ensuring movement is planned, safe, and opportunities and structures exist to ensure that both migrants and host communities reap the benefits. 

Climate change and its impacts are a common challenge for all of us to solve together. But our people and our country are equipped with the values and the capability to rise to that challenge, not only protecting each other, but building a better society for all.

Recipients

Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, Stephen Flynn, Ed Davey, Jeffrey Donaldson, Liz Saville Roberts, Caroline Lucas, Humza Yousaf, Mark Drakeford, Michelle O’Neill

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