Attachments
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Migration responses are strongly influenced by economic, social, political and demographic processes. The most recent Sixth Assessment Report of Working Group II of IPCC (2022a) underlines that climatic conditions, events and variability are important drivers of migration. Tajikistan – featuring resource‑dependent communities in arid and mountainous areas, which are in socioeconomic transition – feels the adverse impacts of climate change more intensely (IOM, 2019a). Migration is among a wider set of possible adaptation options to prepare for and adjust to both the current effects and the predicted impacts of climate change in the future.
As a member State of the United Nations as well as a signatory to UNFCCC, Tajikistan has a commitment to adhere to the recommendations set forth by the Task Force on Displacement as part of the work programme of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage (hereafter Warsaw International Mechanism ExCom) to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change and address migration‑related issues. The Working Group II of the Sixth Assessment of IPCC recognized that climate‑related displacement and involuntary migration can be minimized by increasing adaptive capacities. This, in turn, will ensure safe and orderly migration within and between countries by improving the degree of choice under which migration decisions are made (IPCC, 2022b). Migration in the context of climate change is already anchored into several global policy frameworks, such as the proceedings of UNFCCC, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and the Global Compact for Migration. To integrate migration in the context of climate change coherently in national policies as well as legal and strategic frameworks across domains and sectors – including on environmental protection, climate change, DRR, sustainable development, migration and gender – it is necessary to better understand the existing measures and gaps.
In order to support the Government of Tajikistan in adhering to the Task Force on Displacement recommendations, this report maps 39 national policies, laws, strategies and plans (hereinafter referred to as legal and strategic frameworks) to assess the extent to which the MECC nexus has been mainstreamed. The report finds that the Government of Tajikistan has taken a number of steps towards adhering to the recommendations of the Task Force on Displacement, with 13 of the mapped documents mentioning the MECC nexus. A more nuanced look shows, however, that the level of mainstreaming varies per domain.
While impacts of climate change and environmental degradation can shape different forms of migration, the mapping of 16 environmental, climate change and DRR frameworks (chapter 3.1) showed that the nexus is mainly framed as risks of environmental degradation and disasters induced by natural hazards and the consequent need for relocation of populations. Importantly, NSACC until 2030 (No. 482) (Government of Tajikistan, 2019a) identifies migration as one of the cross‑cutting issues and offers a definition of environmental migration, limited however in that it only encompasses planned relocation. Also, in the disaster risk management frameworks, the nexus is well integrated, though limited in considering only planned relocation and planned evacuation, similar to the understanding in the other documents.
The integration of the nexus in national development planning is less developed. The mapping of nine documents in chapter 3.2 show that the National Development Strategy until 2030 (and the corresponding MTDP 2016–2020 and 2021–2025) do not mention any link between migration, environmental degradation and climate change, or its impacts on achieving sustainable development. Instead, it looks at each topic in silo which translated also in corresponding sectoral frameworks.
Similar observations can be made in the national migration legislation and strategies (chapter 3.3), of which 12 documents were mapped. There are a few documents concerning international and internal migration featuring the nexus. There, the nexus is portrayed as a failure to adapt and a factor impeding climate change resilience of the population of Tajikistan. The nexus appears almost exclusively in relation to the facilitation of relocation of populations at risk of degrading environmental conditions or of from disasters induced by natural hazards. The draft National Strategy of Labour Migration of the Citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan for the period up to 2030 (Government of Tajikistan, forthcoming (a)) envisages ecological migration as the planned relocation of people from environmentally hazardous areas to safer places.
The mapping of two gender documents (law and strategy), as well as the analysis of how well gender considerations are mainstreamed in other domains when looking at MECC nexus (chapter 3.4) reveals considerable gaps. Women are victimized due to their perceived lack of agency in addressing adverse climate change impacts. The absence of men due to labour migration is mentioned as a key reason. The gender strategy sets out to improve the competitive capacity of women, also through targeted training and awareness‑raising, including on adaptation to climate change.