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The International Organization for Migration (IOM),as the leading UN agency on migration addresses the health impacts of climate change through a comprehensive, rights-based approach. This approach recognizes how environmental degradation and climate-related events shape human mobility and affect overall well-being. In Europe IOM works to:

  • Strengthen health systems to meet to the needs of migrants affected by climate change, ensuring access to essential services during displacement.
  • Promote integrated policies that link migration, health, and climate resilience, supporting governments in developing inclusive strategies.
  • Address health risks associated with climate-related hazards—such as heat stress, vector-borne diseases, and food insecurity—especially in vulnerable mobile populations.
  • Foster partnerships with agencies like WHO to ensure coordinated responses and knowledge sharing across sectors.

IOM and the European Union (EU) both recognize climate change as a major driver of displacement and as a critical challenge for public health, livelihoods, and mobility. While they operate independently, their strategies are complementary and often intersect in global and regional initiatives

Key activities within climate change and health

IOM focuses on the following areas linking human mobility to environmental degradation, health, climate change and disasters:

  • Evidence and Data: Generating robust data and analysis to inform policy
  • Policy Advocacy: Promoting the inclusion of human mobility in climate and health policies at national, regional, and global levels
  • Government Partnerships: Supporting the integration of mobility into adaptation plans and health policies
  • Humanitarian and Community Resilience: Mainstreaming adaptation into disaster risk reduction and humanitarian operations, and supporting local resilience strategies
  • Technical Collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO): Contributing to WHO’s Heat–Health Action Plans, including tailored public health messaging and technical inputs that reflect migrant vulnerabilities

Innovation and Collaboration

  • Develop new approaches through the Climate Mobility Innovation Labs (CMIL), bringing together diverse stakeholders and innovating in programming and climate finance and investment
  • Joint Programmes: IOM collaborates with the WHO and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on initiatives like the Migration-Multi-Partner-Trust-Funded- (M-MPTF) financed programme in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA), which strengthens migrant-inclusive health systems in response to climate risks

Reference information

Websites:
https://www.iom.int/
Links to further information

Published in Climate-ADAPT: Aug 26, 2025

Date of creation:

2025

Keywords:
health systems, migration, public health
Climate impacts:

Non specific

Adaptation Approaches:

Sector Policies, Adaptation Measures and Actions, Vulnerability Assessment, Just Resilience

Sectors:

Health, Disaster Risk Reduction, Urban

Geographic characterisation:

Europe

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This translation is generated by eTranslation, a machine translation tool provided by the European Commission.