The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and International Organization for Migration (IOM) were among the organizing partners for a UN University (UNU) hosted International Conference on Environment, Forced Migration and Social Vulnerability, which took place in Bonn, Germany, from 9-11 October 2008.

Participants were asked to capture the current state of research and debate on the issue, and to conclude with recommendations for moving forward. Speaking at the Conference, the UNCCD Secretariat suggested that an international definition of “environmental refugees” should be agreed upon, because UN treaties recognize only political refugees as eligible for aid from the UN refugee agency. Coinciding with the meeting, the UNCCD developed a webpage on desertification and migration. The page notes that Operational Objective 2 of the ten-year strategy for the UNCCD, which was adopted in 2008, covers the issue of environment and migration.
The conference also served as a platform to introduce the Climate Change, Environment and Migration Alliance (CCEMA), which was initiated in April 2008 by UNU, IOM, UNEP and the Munich Re Foundation. This Alliance is a multi-stakeholder global partnership that aims to mainstream environmental and climate change considerations into migration management policies and practices, and to bring migration issues into global environmental and climate change discourse.
Links to further information
International Conference on “Environment, Forced Migration and Social Vulnerability”, Bonn, Germany, 9-11 October 2008
UNCCD Statement
UNCCD Desertification and Migration webpage
UNU-EHS Press Release