Cities at the Intersection: Climate, Culture, and Migration

The Uniting Mayors for Local Solutions to Global Climate Challenges Project has brought together mayors and urban leaders to foster dialogue on the role of cities in responding to climate change and climate-related migration. Cities are often the preferred destination of climate-related migrants, whether moving internally or over international borders. Being on the frontlines of climate displacement, cities have to fashion appropriate policies and action plans, sometimes in the absence of guidance from national authorities. This report profiles the work of four cities in Africa and Europe. Afanloum (Cameroon), a small commune, promotes the integration of migrants through the involvement of religious leadership and the stimulation of coexistence between local communities and migrants. Iganga (Uganda) has set up a community development office encouraging migrants to take on leadership roles, invest, own properties and operate businesses. Braga (Portugal) has created a local climate action plan, which will halve its carbon footprint by 2030, create green spaces and raise awareness of climate change impacts. Montpellier (France) assists asylum seekers in completing applications, receiving services such as health care, and integrating culturally with French language tutoring. The report concludes that cities are at the forefront of policy innovation, taking local action to address climate threats and the challenges of migration. However, cities need additional financial, technical, and legal support, particularly to address the projected increase of the impacts of climate change on migrants and refugees in the coming years. (The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute)

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