Migrations et déplacements induits par les facteurs environnementaux: un défi pour le 21e siècle
Réponse à Recommandation
| Doc. 11999
| 17 juillet 2009
- Auteur(s) :
- Comité des Ministres
- Origine
- Adopted at the 1063rd meeting
of the Ministers’ Deputies (8 July 2009). 2009 - Quatrième partie de session
- Réponse à Recommandation
- : Recommandation 1862
(2009)
1. The Committee of Ministers has given
careful consideration to Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 1862 (2009) on
“Environmentally induced migration and displacement: a 21st century challenge”.
It has brought the recommendation to the attention of the governments
of member states and has transmitted it to the European Committee
on Migration (CDMG), to the Council of Europe Development Bank, to
the European Ministers responsible for Spatial/Regional Planning
(CEMAT) and to the Committee of Permanent Correspondents of the
European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA). The comments
received are appended to this reply.
2. The Committee of Ministers welcomes the attention of the Assembly
on this issue and shares its concerns. It follows closely developments
in this field, particularly those within the framework of the United Nations
and other international bodies.
3. The Committee of Ministers shares the Assembly’s view that
much can be done on a European level. In particular, it concurs
that migration management could benefit from studies which would
identify and anticipate the impact on population movements that
may be provoked by climate change. The Committee of Ministers agrees
that comprehensive cross-disciplinary research and co-operation
between environmental, migration, climate and demographic research
centres in this field should be encouraged.
4. The Committee of Ministers underlines that this phenomenon
is one which affects mainly states beyond European borders. In this
respect, it supports the efforts of the United Nations and other
international bodies, such as the International Organisation of
Migration, which are increasingly active in this field.
5. The Committee of Ministers acknowledges that the growing awareness
of this issue has given rise to a number of questions and would
urge member states to support and actively participate in the work
of the organisations concerned.
6. The Committee of Ministers, in reply to paragraph 6.4, would
also draw the attention of member states to the United Nations Guiding
Principles on Internal Displacement and recall Recommendation Rec(2006)6
of the Committee of Ministers on internally displaced persons.
7. At their Third Summit held in Warsaw in May 2005, the Heads
of State and Government of the Council of Europe reaffirmed their
commitment to promoting sustainable development.
Note The
Committee of Ministers points out that whilst it is essential to
address the actual issue of environmentally induced migration and displacement,
it also is necessary to mitigate as much as possible the causes
of environmental degradation.
8. With regard to sustainable development and risk reduction,
and in reference to paragraph 6.7, the Assembly’s attention is also
drawn to the work underway within the CEMAT in particular with regard
to its work in preparation of its 15th Session on “Future challenges:
sustainable development of the European continent in a changing
world” (Russian Federation,
2010) and its commitment to take into account questions on environmentally
induced migration and displacement in national sustainable spatial
development policies. For its part, EUROPA, will work, inter alia, on the possibility of
a European and Mediterranean Ethics Charter on resilience to major
disasters aiming at improving preparedness and dealing with ethical
problems concerning victims of disasters.
9. The proposal to prepare a possible additional protocol to
the European Convention on Human Rights was also raised by the Assembly
in its
Recommendation
1614 (2003) on the “Environment and human rights”. In
its reply, the Committee of Ministers,
inter
alia, pointed out that given that the Court's case law
shows that the Convention already offers a certain degree of protection
in relation to environmental issues and that the Court's case law
will continue to evolve in this area, it was not considered advisable
to draft an additional protocol to the Convention in this field.
This is still the position of the Committee of Ministers.
10. However, the Assembly recommendation did lead to the subsequent
preparation by the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) of
a Manual on Human Rights and the Environment
Note – Principles emerging from the case law
of the European Court of Human Rights. The aim of the manual was
to increase the understanding of the relationship between the protection
of human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights and
the environment and thereby to contribute to strengthening environmental
protection at the national level.
11. Finally, with regard to paragraph 6.8 of the present recommendation,
the Committee of Ministers would draw the attention to the appended
comments of the Council of Europe Development Bank.
Annexe 1 – Comments from the European Committee on Migration
(CDMG)
1. The CDMG welcomes
the attention accorded by the Parliamentary Assembly to the issue
of environmentally induced migration and displacement and considers
it very well-timed and of high importance in regards to the increasing
intensity of environmental change and its consequences. It fully
shares the view that it is certainly one of the biggest 21st century
challenges that our societies are faced with and serious efforts and
co-operation are urgently needed.
2. Climate change may lead to growing competition for scarce
resources and land availability and are together likely to increase
the incidence of humanitarian crises, further increasing the risk
of already fragile states to fail. Coastal erosion, the spread of
desert regions, declining arable land, a scarcity of water, large scale
pollution and damage to infrastructure from extreme weather can
all undermine the security and stability of some countries and cause
significant migratory flows.
3. In the broad field of migration, environmentally induced migration
is a rather new phenomenon. Mostly due to that reason, no international
legal framework covers all aspects of it and no international organisation focuses
solely on the problems and consequences of it or the protection
of this type of migrant, even though the number of people fleeing
due to environmental changes surpasses the number of those fleeing
because of persecution and armed conflicts.
4. In the area of migration management, co-operation between
Council of Europe member states should be enhanced in order, firstly,
to properly identify and anticipate the impact on population movements
that may be provoked by climate change and, secondly, draw up policies
and procedures that will facilitate the migration of people to new
centres of safety and economic development. This co-operation should
also be extended to non-European partner countries.
5. Member states are not prepared for the consequences that environmental
migration might bring insofar as refugee flows and (internal) population
displacement. Current integration and community relations policies should
be reviewed to ensure that they adequately meet the challenges that
will be created by the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from
countries other than the ‘traditional’ countries of origin of migrants.
The CDMG supports the PACE proposal to encourage comprehensive cross-disciplinary
research and co-operation between environmental, migration, climate-research
and demographic centres in this field.
Annexe 2 – Comments of the Committee of Permanent Correspondents
of the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA)
After careful examination of Parliamentary
Assembly Recommendation
1862 (2009) at its meeting in Paris on 6 and 7 April
2009, the Committee of Permanent Correspondents of the European
and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA):
1 Shares the concern of the Parliamentary
Assembly concerning environmentally induced migration;
2 Notes that major hazards (floods, drought, epidemics,
and climate change related events) are a fundamental cause of environmentally
induced migration and that risks are increasing due to environmental
degradation, population growth and climate change;
3 Notes that the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards
Agreement (EUR-OPA) sees climate change as a phenomenon likely to
increase risks to people’s life and property, environment and cultural heritage
due to the increase of extreme weather related events (floods, drought,
heat waves) and other hazards such as marine risks, forest fires
or geomorphological risks; furthermore, notes that in this context,
the Agreement is also working on ideas on how to improve preparedness
and resilience of societies to these issues. It also encourages
states to include disaster risk reduction in climate change adaptation
policies and in climate change negotiations;
4 Supports a more decisive role of the Council of Europe
on the prevention of environmental degradation and on disaster risk
reduction;
5 Encourages Council of Europe member states to take a more
proactive approach to victims of natural and man-made disasters,
particularly people displaced by environmental problems, and to
improve the preparedness of societies, both in Europe and in other
regions;
6 Notes that the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards
Agreement (EUR-OPA) will work on the possibility of a European and
Mediterranean Ethics Charter on resilience to major disasters aiming
at improving preparedness and dealing with ethical problems concerning
victims of disasters including environmental refugees.
Annexe 3 – Comments of the Committee of Senior Officials
of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for
Spatial/Regional Planning (CEMAT)
The Committee of Senior Officials of the
Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Spatial/Regional
Planning (CEMAT):
1 Notes that
the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe agreed to communicate
Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation
1862 (2009) “Environmentally induced migration and displacement:
a 21st century challenge” for information and possible comments
(decision taken by the Deputies at their 1048th meeting, 11 February
2009);
2 Thanks the Committee of Ministers for consulting it on
this question;
3 Thanks the Parliamentary Assembly for inviting the Committee
of Ministers to adopt a recommendation calling on member states
to develop a common European approach to preventing and managing extreme
climate phenomena as the main cause of environmental migration in
their spatial planning policies;
4 Recognises that environmental degradation and natural
disasters will increasingly determine the nature of human mobility
as well as its humanitarian and human security dimensions;
5 Recalls the provisions of Recommendation Rec(2002)1 of
the Committee of Ministers on the Guiding principles for sustainable
spatial development of the European continent, as regards reducing environmental damage;
6 Underlines that environmental problems, which may result
from inadequate co-ordination of sectoral policies or local decisions,
should be prevented;
7 Notes to this end, that spatial planning policy should
support the prevention or mitigation of various kinds of environmental
harm, e.g. by promoting less damaging agricultural or forestry practices,
encouraging more environment-friendly forms of transport and energy
systems, regenerating derelict urban areas and rehabilitating their
environment, preventing industrial accidents, regenerating areas
damaged by industrial pollution and former military activities as
well as by containing the extension of the suburban areas;
8 Announces that the 15th CEMAT Session on “Future challenges:
sustainable development of the European continent in a changing
world” will be held in the Russian Federation in 2010 and agrees
that the issue of migration and their territorial impact are included
in the Committee of Senior Officials’ 2007-2010 Work Programme;
9 Confirms its commitment to taking into account questions
on environmentally induced migration and displacement in national
sustainable spatial development policies and agrees on the importance
of dealing with this serious issue in the draft 15th CEMAT Moscow
Declaration which is being prepared;
10 Encourages the development of a clear definition of environmentally
induced migration and displacement, which could pave the way to
European or even international consensus, which could be the starting
point for common action;
11 Draws the attention in this context, to the importance
of taking into account the spatial dimension, bearing in mind the
geographical (main landscape regions of Europe) and local dimensions,
the different types of territories (rural, urban, lowlands, plains,
river basins...) presenting completely different risks or potentials.
Annexe 4 – Comments of the Governing Board of the Council
of Europe Development Bank
"The Governing Board examined Recommendation 1862 (2009) of
the Parliamentary Assembly, inviting the Committee of A1inisters
of the Council of Europe to "prioritise the actions of the Council
of Europe Development Bank that contribute to protecting and improving
the environment. Projects that provide appropriate responses to
urgent needs and to sustainable prevention action of environmental
deterioration in a long-term perspective should be particularly
supported;"
The Governing Board recalls that, according to Article II,
section a of the Articles of Agreement: "a. The primary purpose
of the Bank is to help in solving the social problems with which
European countries are or may be faced as a result of the presence
of refugees, displaced persons or migrants consequent upon movements
of refugees or other forced movements of populations and as a result
of the presence of victims of natural or ecological disasters."
In addition, the Overall Policy Framework for Loan and Project
Financing foresees that: "The CEB's actions are aimed at strengthening
social cohesion in Europe through three sectoral action lines, namely
strengthening social integration, managing the environment and developing
human capital."
Over the period 2003-2007, the contribution of the CEB in
the sector of managing the environment represented a cumulative
amount of almost € 3.4 billion in terms of projects approved, including
€ 810 million for 2007 alone. Since 2003, loans disbursed in favour
of environmental management have reached a cumulative amount of
over € 1.5 billion. For 2007, a total of € 353 million was disbursed,
including €240 million for the benefit of the target gro11p countries.
Over and above its specific action in favour of protection
of the environment, the CEB systematically takes into account the
environmental aspects of all the projects it appraises.
The CEB also signed, on 30 May 2006, the Declaration of European
Principles for the Environment. This declaration associates the
European Commission and several other IFLs (EIB, EBRD, NEFCO, NIB)
in a joint effort to implement "the fundamental right of present
and future generations to Jive in a healthy environment".
The Governing Board also decided to bring this resolution
to the attention of the Administrative Council, which is responsible
for approving projects.
