African Countries Adopt Kampala Declaration on Migration and Climate Change

The Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (KDMECC)

• 48 African countries have agreed to adopt the KDMECC, addressing the connection between human mobility and climate change in Africa.

Background of the KDMECC

• The KDMECC was initially signed by 15 African States in Kampala, Uganda, in July 2022.
• The declaration is the first comprehensive, action-oriented framework led by Member States to address climate-induced mobility practically and effectively.

Climate Change and Migration in Africa

• Africa is one of the world's most vulnerable regions to climate change.
• Climate change directly impacts migration, leading to increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
• There were over 7.5 million new internal disaster displacements in 2022 alone, according to a 2023 report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
• If no action is taken, as many as 105 million people could become internal migrants within the African continent.

Conference of States and Key Organizations

• A three-day Conference of States was held on August 23-24, 2023, in Nairobi, Kenya, where the continental expansion of the KDMECC was discussed and agreed upon.
• The conference was co-hosted by the governments of Kenya and Uganda, with support from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).