Climate change and human mobility is both the overarching topic and the theme of working group one of the 2022 - 2023 Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD). The GFMD is currently ongoing, and its findings will be presented at the GFMD Summit in January 2024. The 2022 International Dialogue on Migration (IDM) focussed on the impacts of food insecurity and climate change on migration and displacement and resulted in recommendations for COP27, its final report can be found here: IDM No. 34. At the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF), climate and migration was discussed in roundtables, country statements and at many side events. This article by the Centre for Global Development summarises how it was covered: Climate Migration at the 2022 IMRF.

The UK welcomes the publication by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner and recognises the connection between climate change and migration in the Sahel; a region where the temperature is rising 1.5 times faster than the global average. There are more than 5 million internally displaced people in the region, with many seeking refuge in neighbouring countries due to the deteriorating humanitarian and security situation which is being exacerbated by climate change and environmental degradation. At COP27 in November 2022, the Foreign Secretary confirmed the UK will provide £200 million to the African Development Bank's Climate Action Window to help vulnerable countries, including those in the Sahel, adapt to the impacts of climate change. This funding comes in addition to the £19.5 million pledged by the UK at COP26 which is supporting communities in the region to cope with climate shocks.

The UK Government relies on international data on African migration flows. The United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) World Migration Report 2022 revealed that Africans living in another African country increased from 18 million in 2015 to 21 million in 2020. South Africa settled the most African emigrants (2.9 million), though final destinations are spread widely across Africa. In 2020, East Africa, The Horn and The Great Lakes were the origin of most refugees (5 million). 2 million people were internally displaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1.6 million in Ethiopia and 1.9 million in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.