The Governments of the Republic of Uganda and the Republic Kenya will be hosting a technical conference from August 23rd to 25th, 2023, to propose the expansion of the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (KDMECC) continentally through an addendum (KDMECC-AFRICA) in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Regional Collaboration Center (RCC) for East and Southern (EAS) Africa. The conference will facilitate the participation of all African Member States to articulate their priorities, commitments, and concerns on the nexus between climate change and human mobility to develop a continental framework for addressing it.  

Background and Context 

Africa remains the hardest hit by climate impacts despite contributing the least, at just about 4 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Global climate change threatens the habitability of certain areas, the food security of the region, and livelihoods, especially in the rural areas. This is strongly affecting the current and future human mobility patterns. Still, support to countries to address the human mobility and climate change nexus has been insufficient and its prioritisation at global level lacking. 

In July 2022, 15 African Member States signed a landmark Declaration - the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (KDMECC) to lead the action on addressing this nexus. This Declaration represented the first, comprehensive regional framework on the link between human mobility and climate change, however, the geographical scope is limited to the 11 signatory countries namely; Burundi, Djibouti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda and supported by four (04) following States: Algeria, Egypt, Senegal and Zambia. 

Building on the KDMECC, the Governments of the Republic of Kenya and Uganda recognized that the Africa Climate Summit presents an excellent opportunity to ensure that human mobility is well represented within Continental Climate Change priorities in Africa. Sustainable, climate-change-resilient, socially just development cannot be achieved without considering human mobility in all its forms and recognizing the importance of facilitating migration for the benefit of both sending and receiving locations and states. It is against this background that the Governments of Kenya and Uganda are convening representatives of Member States from the African continent to develop the KDMECC – AFRICA ahead of the Africa Climate Summit. 

Therefore, in partnership with the IOM and the UNFCCC, the Governments of the Republic of Uganda and Kenya are proposing to expand the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment, and Climate Change continentally through an Addendum, giving all African Member States the opportunity to articulate their priorities, commitments, and concerns on the interaction between climate change and human mobility and to commit to addressing this nexus. 

Africa Climate Summit 

In recognition of the challenges brought by climate change and to address the many concerns that the overall outcome of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the UNFCCC did not go far enough to address the scale of the climate emergency, the Government of Kenya, led by H. E President William Samoei Ruto, in his role as the Chair of the Committee of African Heads of States and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), announced during COP 27, that Kenya would host the first Africa Climate Summit in 2023.   

The ‘Africa Climate Summit’ (ACS) is now confirmed to be held between 4-6 September 2023 in Nairobi, as a space for concrete actions and solutions for countries in the global south that are at the forefront of climate change, as well as build political momentum towards COP28. This Summit will bring together leaders from Africa and beyond; development partners; intergovernmental organizations; private sector; academia; civil society organizations; women and youth to design and catalyze actions and solutions for climate change in Africa by providing a platform to deliberate on the nexus between climate change, Africa’s development reality, and the need to push for increased investment in climate action globally, and specifically in Africa. 

Useful Documents

Kampala Declaration Migration Environment and Climate Change - Africa Concept Note

Kampala Declaration Migration Environment and Climate Change - Info Sheet

Related Events

Strengthening Africa Youth Voices on Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change

Africa Climate Summit 2023

Related Pages

Kampala Declaration Migration Environment and Climate Change Page