C40-MMC Task Force on Climate and Migration: 2021-2024 Impact Report

Foreword from the C40-MMC Task Force on Climate and Migration: 2021–2024 Impact Report by C40 Cities Executive Director, Mark Watts, and Mayors Migration Council Executive Director, Vittoria Zanuso

From unprecedented flooding in Brazil to protracted drought in the Horn of Africa and repeated wildfires in North America, the climate crisis  is increasingly driving migration beyond scientific projections. In 2023 alone, natural disasters displaced over 26 million people globally, the third highest figure over the past decade. Cities are unequivocally at the forefront of responses to the human distress and challenges to societies that forced migration brings. 

By 2050, climate impacts could force more than 160 million people to move within their countries in just three regions alone – sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. Globally, up to a billion people could be driven from their homes within the next 30 years – less than half a lifetime. 

Most of these journeys will lead to cities. New research by C40 and the Mayors Migration Council (MMC), funded by the Scottish Government, estimates that, by the same year, 8 million people will be internally displaced to 10 global south cities alone – from Bogotá (Colombia) and Amman (Jordan) to Freetown (Sierra Leone) and Karachi (Pakistan) – as a result of the climate crisis if Paris Agreement targets are not met. If there was ever a stark reminder of the urgency to ensure human-centred solutions and urgent action to reduce emissions and deliver adaptation solutions, this is it. 

Leading mayors are already taking action to meet this reality head on, aiming to transform migration into an opportunity to build better cities for all. In 2021, a leading group of C40 and MMC mayors came together to form a Global Mayors Task Force on Climate and Migration with the aim to drive awareness about the urban dimension of climate migration and accelerate global responses in cities. This report takes stock of what the C40-MMC Task Force has done, highlights the impact of this mayoral collaboration and sets the scene for what is needed next.  

In just three years the Task Force has delivered a first-of-its-kind Action Agenda on Climate & Migration in cities – taking stock of what cities have been doing and  influencing national and international responses, it has driven funding for city-led solutions, to prove action is possible and has built  a strong evidence base positioning mayors ahead of the game on frontier issues of climate justice – from loss and damage to good green job creation for migrants and refugees. 

This report demonstrates that when mayors unite, act and speak with one voice, they have the capacity to set the agenda for others to follow. Mayors can critically contribute with pragmatic solutions to complex policy issues: building resilience in the face of climate risks, welcoming and protecting those who are forced to move due to climate change, and fostering migrants’ and refugees’ economic inclusion, through a green and “just transition”. Cities are already leading by example and stepping up to unlock this potential. Take Freetown, which launched a waste management programme that loans tricycles to migrant-run micro-enterprises. Today, these enterprises have repaid half the tricycle costs, which has attracted further investments from multilateral development banks. 

Thanks to this leadership, the Task Force is now a trusted voice in the global space driving climate migration discussions and is recognised by the United Nations Secretary-General, among other national and global leaders. Now, a growing coalition of mayors worldwide have marked climate migration as a priority issue, and city leaders are increasingly welcomed to join coalitions of leaders in this field, such as the Climate Migration Council. Now, more needs to happen at the national and multilateral level to deliver solutions at scale.

On this three-year anniversary of the Task Force, we commit to strengthening our diplomacy efforts to drive critical finance and policy shifts so cities can address climate breakdown, slash emissions, reduce fossil fuel demand and ensure migration is an opportunity, not a crisis. We look forward to scaling up this work with leading mayors and partners – including new context-specific research, peer-to-peer support and direct funding for cities –  to deliver the urgent action needed and bring along more partners at all levels of governance.  

With 2024 likely to be the hottest year on record, no one benefits from delayed climate action and humanity cannot afford more missed opportunities. Building on the successful accomplishments of the past three years, C40-MMC mayoral and organisational leadership stands ready to work with leading mayors, governments, partners and donors to deliver change at the scale needed.