Bishkek – On 5 April, Mr. Soumyadeep Banerjee, IOM’s Regional Migration, Environment, and Climate Change Specialist in Vienna presents to the government of Kyrgyzstan preliminary results of the Longitudinal Study “Kyrgyzstan: Addressing Human Mobility in a Changing Climate in Mountain Areas” within the Asia Regional Migration Program, funded by the United States, Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).

IOM partnered with the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Ministry of Labour, Social Security, and Migration, the National Statistics Committee, and the National Research Partner “PIL Research” to collect evidence on human mobility in a Changing Climate in Mountain Areas, and to contribute to several objectives set in the Concept of Migration Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Zhumabek Myrzabekov, a newly appointed Head of the Department for Migration Issues, Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic highlighted the following priorities for climate mobility:

• Ensure that the needs of migrants, their families (including women and children), pastoralists, and those displaced by natural disasters are met in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
• Ensure that people experiencing displacement have access to clean energy.
• Create incentives to channel remittances and diaspora finance into clean energy, sustainable construction and renovation, sustainable mobility, circular economy, and sustainable agriculture.
• Expand proven approaches to developing the capacity of migrant workers so they can contribute to building resilience in host communities.
• Ensure a just transition to a low-carbon economy and access for migrant workers in extractive industries to reskilling and social protection initiatives.
• Recognize that even with a 1.5-degree increase in temperature, subsequent changes in vulnerable ecosystems (such as mountains, arid or semi-arid areas, and coastal areas) could lead to population displacement.

The second round of data collection in the regions of Batken, Osh, and Jalal-Abad will take place from May to July 2024.