 Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming back in large numbers and on time. I'm particularly glad because this is one of the most important issues we're going to discuss in our four days together. We just had a fascinating lunch and conversation with our panelists here, and I certainly learned a lot. And above all else, I came away from our lunch today with a much greater sense of urgency than perhaps I've had or should have had in the past. And I think you will hear from the distinguished esteemed minister from France and our colleagues, the ambassador of Fiji here in Geneva and Mrs. Kiyama representing a major organization. You will hear from them as experts why we should be concerned and why we should be doing more, much more, even in IOM, which is just one of many players. So I will keep my remarks very brief because we only have something less than an hour, and you want to hear from these speakers, not from me. But I just wanted to underline the urgency of this. This continues to be a major area of IOM's agenda. We've been writing and reading and researching on the subject for about 20 years. We got started a bit late, but we're with it now. And I want to say that how much we need to try to integrate the thinking that you hear today into the global compact for migration because it's going to be a major driver of forced migration and irregular migration for some time to come. I'm extremely sorry that the convention executive secretary, Mrs. Patricia Espinosa, could not join us today. Something came up at the very last minute, and her statement will, however, be made available to all of you through our secretariat. So let me then say that let me just start by introducing the panel. We're very honored to have back, I think, it's probably our second or third time to press the minister into service, but we're extremely grateful to his excellency, Mr. Nicholas Ullo, who is the minister in the new government of President Macron for the ecological and inclusive transition of France. Great pleasure to introduce and have the honor to welcome you, sir, back to our council session. Over the past decade through the Nicholas Ullo Foundation, the minister has lobbied and received the unanimous approval of the charter for the environment through the challenge of the Earth. He proposed an ecological pact to the French presidential election candidates and urged them to put environment and climate concerns at the very heart of public policy. He also helped organize the what's called the Grinnell de l'Enfayeur-en-Am is a conference that brings together government, local authorities, trade unions, business, voluntary sectors to draw up practical green policies. So we're also proud that in his former capacity as envoy of the president of the republic in preparation of the Paris Agreement, his excellency, Minister Ullo, endorsed our Atlas of Environmental Migration, which is a great honor for us. I also want to introduce on my left someone well known to you who are here in Geneva, her excellency, Mrs. Najat Shamim Khan, the ambassador and chief negotiator for the 23rd Climate Conference of Parties, COP 23, under the Fiji presidency, ambassador and permanent representative of Fiji to the United Nations here in Geneva. Ambassador Khan has been with us for a while and now is going to be even more in view here in Geneva as the chief negotiator for the COP 23 presidency. She will oversee the formal negotiating process on behalf of the presidency of Fiji. Among other highlights in her impressive professional career, she holds the honor of being the first woman to be appointed a judge in Fiji. She served as a judge for a decade and later started her own consultancy and was appointed to her current ambassador or post by the prime minister in 2014, how time flies. Actually, it's an honor to have you in the 108th IOM Council Session. I want to introduce also Miss Keiko Kiyama, co-president of Japan Emergency NGO, acronym JEN, the executive director of Japan Platform Japan. She has been serving for refugees, working with refugees, internally displaced persons and survivors of natural disasters since she joined JEN in 1994, two decades ago. And from 94 to 2000, she worked as the regional representative of JEN's program for former Yugoslav countries where she and her teams supported self-reliance of refugees and IDPs through hundreds of projects in huge varieties of sectors. Miss Kiyama, it's an honor and pleasure to welcome you here today. So let me, first of all then, make just a few more comments, namely that contemporary migration policy and practice is not possible to shape it in the way we did 10 years ago or even five years ago. We can no longer afford to ignore the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on migration. I gave you my one personal example. When I first went to Africa, my first diplomatic assignment in 1963, 55 years ago, we flew over Lake Chad. I'd been asleep and I looked out and I thought we were over the ocean, so big. I came back in 1998, I guess it was, as ambassador to Nigeria. I did a fly low, fly slow trip over Lake Chad and permanent dwellings were being built in the bed of the lake. It's one example of what happens in a period of 25 years. Secondly is migration is inevitable, it's necessary, and it's even desirable if we manage it well and respect human rights, including helping people to prepare for the impact of climate change on their lives through a positive adaptation to be used later with mitigation efforts. And I do believe, third point, that the global compact that's gonna be negotiated next year is a historical opportunity to make sure that global migration governance efforts take into account, respond to, and respect the importance of environmental and climate change drivers of migration. So let me now, having welcomed our panelists, let me start by once again giving the floor to His Excellency, Mr. Nicolas Hulot, the Minister of Ecological and Solidary Transition of France. So you have the floor. Thank you. I suggest you take your headset because my English is not very good and it will be more comfortable for everybody. Monsieur le Direct. Dear Director-General, thank you very much for having welcomed me here. Thank you very much for all of these warm introductory words that you have just addressed. Thank you very much and also dear Executive Secretary, dear Ambassadors, dear Vice Chair, your Excellencies, dear friends. First of all, I would like to thank you, Mr. William Lacey Swing, for your invitation. I would also like to take this opportunity to underline the exceptional work that you have carried out at the helm of this organization. This organization is absolutely fundamental, this international organization for migration. Geologists have informed us very recently that we would have brutally gone from one geological era to another geological era. They have informed us that we are now in the Anthropocemic period, which means that we have entered into the era of humanity without even knowing this, which means that humanity has become its own factor, its own determinant for our future. And I am asking myself this question in front of you today, whether we, if this means that we are our own factor of change, is this good news or bad news? This is the question that I'm asking myself because a French philosopher used to say that I deplored that the fate of humanity was in such bad hands as his. And of course, we must prove him wrong because personally, I am very pleased that we still have our future in our hands. It is still up to us to decide our destiny, but everybody here understands that if we no longer control of this phenomena, we will no longer be able to control our own fate and we will go into a very decisive era. We will enter into this new era where the, where there was going to be a degradation of all sorts of phenomena that we can observe now. Therefore, I would say that if there is a skill that we should take on as soon as possible at the beginning of this 21st century, it is lucidity. We really need to look at today's realities, to face these realities straight, eye to eye. And I understand that these realities are sometimes very terrifying and very complex, but we should not to discard them and put them to one side or forget about them because personally, the one thing that I'm very afraid about is to let the future decide for us, our destiny. Sometimes we put things to one side saying that we are too busy, but this is extremely dangerous. And I am just mentioning all this because the subject that you are dealing with here in this organization is one of these subjects. There are certain experts here around the room, but often people dissimulate the severity of these topics and issues that you deal with here at the IOM. However, this topic that we are dealing with today is absolutely essential. We must carry out our duty, which is the duty of humanity. This topic of how to address migration and climate change in the global compact is not a future topic. It is a topic that is currently affecting hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children around the world. These are men, women, and children that are already living in situations of vulnerability. And I have often mentioned this. The climate change crisis is an excess injustice because it adds suffering to suffering and that it affects mostly the most vulnerable populations already. And you know this here, of course, already, but many people outside of this August, but he do not know about this. As you know, a climate change of phenomenons or desertification, natural disasters are already displacing twice as many people as conflicts. And we know of all the tragic consequences of these displacements. With your permission, please allow me to reiterate here our devotion to human rights of all migrants, regardless of their status. We also commit ourselves to the reinforcement of absolutely necessary cooperation between countries of origin, transit, and destination. Let us never forget that most of environmental migration are invisible for people around the world. It is neighboring countries of affected zones that have been affected by climate change are welcoming with very few means of the first displaced migrants because of a climate related event. They are doing this out of humanity spontaneously, but we also have this duty. We have a duty of solidarity. The linkages that exist between migration, climate change, and environmental degradation have been proven. And at the same time, are very complex. They have been proven already. There are territories that are close to the coastline where we can see that desertification can be threatened in the long term and even in the short term. Extreme weather events, which this morning we have been reminded about, the WMO confirmed this morning that there are more and more extreme weather events. And they lead to displacements that are sometimes temporary, but more and more definitive displacements. Climate change also affects, in the long term, entire swaths of territories that increase poverty and misery. All migration, of course, are not because of a result of climate change. Often there are many different factors. However, everybody recognizes that climate change is one of the root causes for migratory flows. And once again, it adds injustice to injustice. We have, in fact, entered a new climate era that forces us to look at reality, to face reality and to not give up, but to find solutions. This is why it is absolutely essential to take action. The Paris Agreement is the first response and is the most important one. In this context, I would like to commend the chairmanship of Fiji at COP 23. The linkages between migration and climate change are also very complex. On one hand, climate change is not the only cause for migratory flows. There's also the degradation of land and ecosystems. However, we can see men and women's impact here directly, deforestation, pollution, overfishing, irrigation systems, and agricultural practices that are completely unsuitable. This all contributes to problems linked to migration. Now, what can we do to help fragile states that accumulate all sorts of different handicaps that are, for example, related to nature, economic, environmental, and social handicaps? What must be done? We can not deny another type of reality. The first victims of global warming, as I just mentioned, are the poorest populations, the most disadvantaged, but also paradoxically, the people that have less contributed to climate change and degradation. And this is why I've always thought that this was a major injustice, because these men, women, and children are subjected to the consequences of a phenomenon that is itself the result of a mode of development that they have not benefited from, and a phenomenon that they have not provoked. And they are going to be the biggest victims of this. And I am stating this here because history is never amnesic, and we always have to bear in mind these realities. This is really the heart of climate justice, which has been enshrined in the preamble of the Paris Agreement. We can take action in many different ways. First of all, climate issues must be integrated to all the work that is carried out in multilateral international organizations that have to do with human mobility challenges. The development of the global compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration, which results from the declaration that was made in New York on the 19th of September, 2016, represents an opportunity that we must take up. Thanks to its unique expertise, the IOM is providing very precious support. And here, once again, I would like to commend all of your work and efforts undertaken towards development of this compact. France will continue to participate actively, especially in a few days' time in Puerto Vallarta, and then, of course, during the entire phase of negotiation. France will contribute and will continue to re-affirm the respect for human rights of all migrants regardless of their status. We will also look at the need for reinforcement of cooperation between countries of origin, transit, and destination. Above and beyond this compact, we must take this opportunity to highlight the linkages that exist between climate change and migration. We also, of course, need to improve data and knowledge related to climate-induced migration and find as quickly as possible sustainable, concrete solutions for displaced people or at risk of being displaced. This issue of the protection of these people is absolutely essential. This is the raison d'être of the work of the platform on displacement linked to natural disasters, which was an outcome of the Nansen Initiative and which facilitated in 2015 the adoption of an agenda for the protection of displaced persons in the context of natural disasters and climate change. For all of these reasons, France, which has been a member of the steering committee, has supported actively this platform and has contributed to the projects of the IOM. At the same time, we need to work on prediction of environmental changes to be able to help societies avoid the worst and take the best decisions. Resilience strengthening must be an absolutely essential a key of any public policy to ensure the stability of human communities. The prevention of risks is also paramount. There are many different efforts that have been undertaken in this area. France has been carrying forward with other bilateral partners, as you know, but also with the WMO and the World Bank, an initiative that I commend here, which is the Initiative Cruise, which aims at improving preparedness and prevention for extreme climate events. And once again, I would like to highlight this terrible example, which is that recently, when there was a series of hurricanes in the Caribbean, when the entire world was observing on their screens these tragic events in certain areas in Haiti, some people were not even informed of the approach of these extreme weather events. We must work upstream through the implementation of the Paris Agreement, of course, but also by respecting the pledges that were made to benefit southern countries, also the improvement of agricultural practices of the preservation of land and ecosystems and putting an end as well to deforestation and to and start reforestation. Concrete answers are necessary and this will allow us to decrease the pressure on natural resources, especially in the most fragile areas. We must also support the development of strategies that place ecosystems at the heart of development. This presupposes everybody's mobilization. For the very first time, indeed, in the implementation of the Rio Convention, a decision was adopted on the topic of migration during the last to COP 13 on the notification which took place in China in Ordo last September. We must therefore foster all synergies that exist between different organizations on this subject and continue to mobilize all of our energy to protect our planet and, of course, to protect our humanity. Now to conclude, this is why the president of France, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, decided to organize on the 12th of December in a few days, a summit in Paris to be held in conjunction with the UN and the World Bank to be able to mobilize all actors that are fighting against climate change but also to help find solutions for adaptation and mitigation. France put forward at the General Assembly the United Nations in September, a global compact for the environment which aims to align all the great principles of international environmental law. This program, as you can imagine, is very extensive but the good news is that there is no fatality to all of these migratory floors that are more and more dramatic and tragic. We have all the means at our disposal if we choose to use them and work together. Thank you very much for your attention. I know that you would want me on your behalf and as well as myself to thank the minister for a very brilliant presentation of the urgency of the matter. That's something that has been too easy to ignore in recent times. He's put us before the reality that among other things, climate change is becoming, is already one of the great drivers of forced migration. He outlined several of the very, what I would call cruel ironies. Number one is that it's neighboring states or receiving states often have to carry much of the weight of the results of climate change. Secondly, it exacerbates people or poverty of people who are already in great need and then it affects the most vulnerable and often the most innocent who've done nothing to contribute to climate change. So I think it's very, very, very important for us to keep that all closely in mind. That many of the priorities that we have now will have to be changed if we're going to succeed in this. And I think he gave me a perfect transition to our next speaker by praising Fiji for its presidency of COP 23. So let me without further ado, who I've already introduced, but ask our Excellency Ambassador Khan, Madam, you have the floor, please. Thank you. Thank you very much indeed, Director General. And may I also commend the IOM for organizing this important high-level event. It is an event which allows us to discuss the synergies between climate change, the environment and migration. This is a very, very important subject indeed for us to focus on. May I also congratulate Mr. Ullo, his Excellency, on the important conversation that he's just had with us about the relationship between climate change and climate justice. And really at the crux of that is something that I would also like to talk about. And this is the importance of putting people first in relation to any solutions that we have relating to climate change, the environment and migration. May I say in relation to persons who are displaced as a result of the environment, as a result of climate change, that it is very clear that when they are displaced, that existing vulnerabilities become exacerbated and that when you move people from, and we know this very well in the Pacific, when you move people from the coastline where they're used to being fishing people onto higher ground where they suddenly expected to be farming people, that this already creates great disruption for their way of life and the way of life for the entire community. And it also exposes those who are already vulnerable to acts, for instance, of harassment, of violence and of lack of access to medical services, for instance, to further vulnerability. So we are very aware, particularly coming from the Pacific, of the very negative effects of climate change displacement if we are not careful to adopt approaches which we've heard could be well described as an approach of climate justice. So this is a very good way to start. May I say also that here in Geneva, we have seen important initiatives which show that any attempt to deal with climate change and displacement and migration should be one that reflects coherence in the various agencies which deal with such displacement. And we saw that very clearly in the adoption in the 35th session of the Human Rights Council of a resolution on human rights and climate change which recognized these linkages. So the linkages between human rights and the number of other policy areas which included the effect of displacement on loss and damage, on gender, and on the rights of persons who are indigenous. Following on from that resolution, we had the very useful intersessional panel which was organized on the 6th of October here in Geneva. It was a very good first step to understand those linkages and also it provided an opportunity for an initial exchange of breast practices. We are also looking forward to the OHCHR report next year on the gaps in human rights protections in the context of climate related migration and displacement. It was very timely that this year Fiji shared the chairmanship of the Oceans Conference in New York which looked at the importance of oceans and the environment and was instrumental in fact for the call for action which was adopted by the parties in New York as a result of the Oceans Conference. And that conference also drew very clear links between the oceans and people and sustainability and economic development, something that is very, very important especially for the Pacific. In addition to that of course, Fiji had the presidency of COP23. And really I want to take this opportunity to talk about some of the outcomes of COP23 which had people at their center. And as I've said before, it is really important that when we look at the entire area and the entire subject of how we deal with climate change and the effect of climate change in society and on social institutions that we put people first. So this was the first time that a small island developing state had the presidency of a COP. And it was natural that we would as a result of that presidency want to see a people centered COP. And we've now begun to call COP23 the people's COP because we saw a number of outcomes at COP23 that reflected people and the wishes of people as well as the involvement of people because you simply cannot impose ideas on people. It's very important that people participate in the processes of deciding what is best for them. And so quite unexpectedly, this year at this COP we had a result on agriculture. For those of you who are familiar with climate change and its processes, you will know that it's taken some time to get there. It's been a struggle, but for the first time agriculture was recognized as one which required priority. A work program called the Coronavial Work Program named after our agricultural research station in Fiji was launched and a consensus was reached in agriculture which is not only going to look at the emissions of the agricultural industry but is also going to look at small farmers so important in countries which are developing small farmers and their role in reducing emissions. So a very good result on agriculture. The gender action plan. It took 12 years of socialization for there to be a gender action plan. And at last at COP23, the gender action plan was launched which looks at the integration of women not only in national action plans and national strategies but in international climate change governance. Very important because sometimes when you look around the room at UNFCCC processes, you wonder whether women have become an endangered species. We had a result on long-term finance, also unexpected. We had the first ever open dialogue between states and observers. We had, and I'll pause here for a video, for the first time we had a child opening the high-level segment and really I mean for all of the extremely intelligent, knowledgeable and well qualified people in the room including with respect President Macron, this little boy really stole the show. So if I can pause there just to show a short excerpt of Timothée's speech to the high-level segment at COP. 2017 has really been the year underlining the relationship. 2016, we were hit by one of the strongest cyclone ever struck Fiji, the strongest in the southern hemisphere. My home, my school, as as a food, water, money was totally destroyed. My life was in chaos. I asked myself, why is it happening? Why is the cyclone getting stronger? What am I going to do? I walked along one supplantation searching for what to take home for dinner. Fishing the river for fissure prawns. Walked amongst once a dense forest only to be filled with despair and frustration. My once-beautiful village I once called home is now a barren and empty wasteland. Months that follow, summer temperatures continue rising, production of soil moisture turning our land into a tile. Tree is not bearing fruits and ages was seasoned. Water bodies getting dry each day. Fishes, streams, prawns, eels, dead on lakes and river. I feel the pain, the remorse, the anger, the loss, the terror, the insecurity, worthless and useless as I watched everything around me turning from green to yellow then brown. I stress sign that we are dying. That's indicated. Thank you very much indeed. And that was Timor the talking at the high level segment as the very first speaker. And I understand that he has been invited by President Macron to also speak at the Paris Summit. Also an important outcome at COP23 was a work program on education under the Paris Agreement and a workshop on education is going to be held in May 2018. Also launched at COP23, the Suva Expert Panel on Loss and Damage to look at the sharing of best practices not only in relation to what's happened but also to discuss support for loss and damage. The Fiji Clearinghouse for Risk Transfer, a recognition that insurance has an important role for dealing with loss and damage and five high level events aimed at coherence in relation to climate policy. We have for the first time the recognition in a COP decision that the Adaptation Fund shall serve the Paris Agreement. And in addition to that, considerable input into the Adaptation Fund by developed countries. But of course, COP23 was intended fundamentally to move progress towards the Paris Agreement work program and to introduce the design of the Talanoa Dialogue. What we could now call the Talanoa Dialogue which was of course originally called the Facilitative Dialogue. And it is in relation to the Talanoa Dialogue that I have to say that there was a strong degree of support from observers as well as parties and that as a result of that support and as a result of the discussion around expectations for the Talanoa Dialogue, we will have a degree of observer input throughout 2018 in a process which is guided by the methodology of Talanoa, a form of dialogue in the Pacific which is inclusive, participatory and non-judgmental. And the aim of the Talanoa Dialogue is to enhance ambition in relation to the informing of the next round of NDCs. So again, a very important process. We announced the design at COP23 and of course the process of Talanoa will be unrolled during 2018. I do want to say in addition to the outcomes of COP23 that the Pacific is going to see an unprecedented level of displacement in the coming years and that is because of rising sea levels. Fiji has already offered its own land and its own country to some of the countries of the Pacific specifically Tuvalu and Kiribati. But in order for us to ensure that that is a humane and dignified process, it's very important that we adopt a regional solution to ensure that this is a process which is consensual, which is dignified and as I've said before, based on human rights. And it is very important that Fiji, whose constitution includes a right to a clean environment, very important that in relation to any solution that we have for the Pacific, that we have one that is inclusive and participatory and one that reflects the Pacific spirit of welcome and bullet. And I'll stop there, Director General, thank you. Madam Ambassador, as with the minister, you've given us exactly what we had hoped for and I thank you for that. I'm not gonna make any effort now further to summarize because we're run out of time. I have two more speakers and I know that the minister needs to leave promptly at four. I wanna make sure that it gets you out on time as much as we'd like to keep you. And if we don't have time for a lot of statements or questions, we will ask that you share these statements written form later and some of the remarks you wanna make on this could be even be included in the next session of the general debate. So let me move immediately to the video that we have with Eric Solheim, the head of the United Nations Environmental Program in Nairobi. 2017 has really been the year underlining the relationship between natural catastrophes and environment on one side and migration and conflicts on the other side. We have had the horrible cyclones in the Caribbean as well as in the United States. We have seen the drought in Somalia, landslides in Sierra Leone and great flooding in Bangladesh and India. So many people have been suffering from the enormous impact on natural catastrophes. That's why we need to make the link between what we are doing in the International Organization for Migration and what we are doing in UN environment. UN environment just one year ago joined the UN Global Migration Group. We are very encouraged by the open process you have put in place, the inclusion of environment and climate issues in the broad thinking around migration and conflicts. And the preparations for the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, which I hope we will be able to finalize in 2018. This work highlights the role of the environment in either creating stable and prosperous societies or driving migration and displacement. Just as it demonstrates the potential impact on the environment of failing to adapt to climate change or reduce the risk of disaster in the first place. Take the quarter of a million people in the Caribbean affected by the hurricanes Irma and Maria, which was so devastating this year. In Puerto Rico alone, nearly 80,000 people were evacuated. Half the power grid remains offline and for vulnerable people like Jorge Lopez Ortiz in Puerto Rico, that means being a virtual prisoner. It's impossible for her to cook and too dangerous to go outside after dark. Her only lifeline is a rope passed through security bars to aid groups delivering food and water. So the media headlines have gone, but the problems have not. These are the kind of far-reaching consequences we need to remember than taking decisions on land use, on energy, on infrastructure and in so many other areas. Decision that we are looked into for decades, what we decide to do in 2017, have implications for maybe 50 years to come. And that have the potential to create either virtues or vicious cycles. That's why it's so important that the work of the global compact should be linked to the work to tackle climate change, to protect biodiversity, to fight poverty, health destruction, to fight for equality, security and decent work. I very much hope this will be reflected in the discussions today and I really look forward to hearing the outcome. Let's work together to make the link between environment and migration so that we can serve the planet and its people. Thank you, Mr. Chairperson. I'm honored and humbled to this opportunity to give a presentation at this high level panel. The comments I will be making today are based on my humanitarian background. As Mr. Chairperson have introduced, I have been working in the field of humanitarian assistance for over 23 years. One of my early day missions was in the former Yugoslav countries. It was early 90s and we were serving for refugees and displaced persons. What we learned there was the dignity and strength. Surely exist within those who seemingly vulnerable. We also saw how easily one careless distribution of unified materials could take their dignity away and discourage them to take initiative of their own lives. Therefore, we have been emphasizing the importance of supporting self-reliance from the very early stage of emergency. Many people have criticized the self-reliance is for the phase of development or at the earliest in the transitional phase. However, from our experiences, we also learned that the earlier they are involved, the earlier they will become self-reliant. So there are four points I'd like to make sure that to make sure to be included in the global compact of safe order and the regular migration. Some of these may have already been thoroughly discussed, but it is always better to emphasize important things repeatedly. The first one is mainstreaming environment and climate change in promoting safe orderly and regular migration. I'd like to express my deep appreciation to IOM's efforts on this. Disasters affect those who are vulnerable more severely. Thus, it will require more resources for them to recover from the damage. In such resources, if such resources will be allocated for the vulnerable people before disasters hit them, they might be able to become providers of assistance rather than recipients once disaster occurs. Second point is to tackle with root causes and prevention. I also highly appreciate that IOM has been emphasizing the importance of peace and development. It also aligns with one of the conclusions of the World Humanitarian Summit, prevent and or end conflict. Each individual in disaster affected areas are no less capable of supporting themselves if such a disaster did not occur. It is extremely important for the damage, damage of disasters to be minimized so that they will not be forced to migrate due to adverse drivers. The third point is migrants and potential migrants are the first stakeholders. Tackling root causes requires local knowledge. Therefore, it is totally natural for them to be included in not only implementation of projects, but also in all the processes including strategy-making, planning, monitoring, evaluation and researches. Since they are the owner of their own lives, when they are included in all the phases, the project will be more efficient and productive and the result will be to the point and sustainable. Because their background varies, we must make special efforts to include people with various backgrounds such as women, minorities, physically and mentally challenged. Needless to mention, they are the owner of their problems as well as precious resources. The fourth point is nexus beyond collaboration is the key for innovation. All the stakeholders must come together and produce innovative solutions for fundamental issues. Currently, humanitarian need is the largest since World War II. In 2015, UN was able to raise only 55% of funds against it appealed for humanitarian needs. And unfortunately, the number of people in need is not decreasing. Insufficient funds may not affect quality, but definitely the quantity of assistance that unfortunately increases the vulnerability of those who had been already vulnerable. The ongoing way of humanitarian assistance will not be able to fulfill the objective of assisting to satisfy basic human needs. Therefore, innovative solutions are in desperate needs. The actors on the ground are also diversifying. Therefore, closer tie amongst all the stakeholders need to be developed and innovation are eagerly sought for. For closing, I'd like to share our experience of the great eastern Japan earthquake. The earthquake hit large areas. Due to tsunami, huge area was damaged. Many depopulated towns and villages were included. Those villages had already had various problems in relation to depopulation. The tsunami even more expedited depopulation. Therefore, it was obvious that even if they recovered all the materials they lost, they would not have been able to rebuild the same lives they had. Without tackling the fundamental problems they had from before the earthquake and tsunami. In other words, the earthquake and tsunami forced them to face the existing problems. Innovation was desperately in need. Japan platform is a consortium of 47 Japanese NGOs where I served as a co-president from the time of the earthquake. The majority of member NGOs of JPF was scattered through the earthquake, tsunami affected area and worked with local communities. We faced the same agenda, innovation. Therefore, starting from 2014, JPF held Humanitarian Innovation Forum involving various stakeholders, including local people. This undertaking had been adopted by Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network. And now, many innovation workshops are held in various parts of Asia, including earthquake affected Nepal. Without innovation, we are not able to serve for the need of various vulnerable people. And I believe that we can make innovation together. Thank you. As with the other speakers, I wish to thank Ms. Kiyama most sincerely for very good presentation, giving some idea of more from a practical level of what it's like on the ground where we do work on climate change matters. I'm afraid that we have about two minutes left. I'm not sure that's time enough for 10 minutes. 10 minutes. Okay, okay, good. All right, did I have a series of speakers here? I have the speakers of S speak Madagascar, Costa Rica, Germany and the European Union with others perhaps to follow. But let's start with Madagascar. You have the floor. Mr. Finimon. Thank you very much, Chairman. First of all, I'd like to thank you for the organization of this panel. I'd also like to thank the panelists for their excellent presentations. Mr. Director General, looking at the factors and the root causes for migration in the context of the New York Declaration of 19 September 2017, the members have looked at all the notions that gave rise to forced displacement and irregular migration. They looked at the multifaceted nature of causes mentioned and their complex interdependence with the example of combating extreme poverty, climate environmental factors, basically the objective of the global compact is to come up with solutions at a global level by adopting integrated approaches of commitments which would be feasible. One of the proposals to this regard was to establish partnerships in a global context of shared responsibility, taking account of flexibility and adaptability that we'd like to insert into this global compact. And I would like to ask the following question and I'm asking it of the three panelists, what are the areas and the types of cooperation which you consider decisive to reconcile climate change adaptation and mitigation while including the cross-cutting issues of sustainable development and economic growth? In other words, the solution, should it take account the fundamental aspects inherent to the social, cultural and economic aspects? Thank you very much. Merci. Etna Costa Rica. Senor Director. Thank you very much Director General and thank you very much to the panelists for the interesting talks they gave today. The minister certainly talked about something which today seems a fact which is the importance of the environment and the global agenda and this is a major gain but it has been a fairly difficult combat for many countries in this global agenda and I'd like to refer to this because although he was referring to certain dates or deadlines, I recall that in the 62nd United Nations General Assembly where this was in 2007, the Chancellor Costance said at that time that we could not say better late than never. At that time the General Assembly had decided that the central issue was climate change but 20 years before in 1987, President Mahmoud Abdul-Gayun of the Republic of Maldives had come to the General Assembly to warn us all that he was not going to talk about policies but rather he was coming to talk about the death of a nation and this because from his standpoint and his appeal for help, he said his nation whose 1900, some 1900 islands were gonna be submerged by the sea level rise 30 years ago, we had that warning, that presentation from the President of the Republic of Maldives and finally today we're taking action and moving forward, certainly the global compact for safe, regular and orderly migration is a unique opportunity for us to be able to have this link between migration, human rights and climate change and I could say that it's a virtuous cycle because it has these three elements but at the same time they move or gravitate around the sustainable development goals and I think the global compact is a major opportunity for us to assert this extremely strong and solid link and in addition, it will be with a perspective of sustainability, this was very well said by the representative of Maddes Gaskar, he was talking about problems of economic development for countries who are developing. How can we look at climate change, migration and human rights if this is going to prevent our development but it shouldn't be seen as a perspective of sustainability in facing this problem of human mobility. I simply also wanted like to stress certain initiatives that are also been created in parallel frameworks and all of these have to be linked up and I'm thinking of the Geneva Pledge which is an appeal for negotiators on climate change to sit down with the human rights negotiators and to have an exchange and I think this would be a possibility including people from the migrant population to have a holistic approach. Thank you very much, Mr. Director General. Harmony, you have the floor. Thank you Director General for giving me the floor. I asked for it because Germany is the current chair of the platform of disaster displacement and I will keep it very short in order you can take maybe another speaker. We of course, we find it essential that the GCM addresses human mobility in the context of disaster and the adverse effects of climate change goes without saying and we have elaborated key messages, valuable key messages as we think how this can be integrated in the GCM text and you can find them on the PPD website which is disasterdisplacement.org. So, thank you. Thank you very much, European Union. Thank you Director General. Honorable Minister Excellencies, thanks for the rich panel and for putting this important issue of climate change on the agenda of today's meeting and of the GCM. I'll try to cut myself, my comments short in the interest of time. I speak on behalf of the European Union and its member states. Climate change is creating complex humanitarian and development challenges. It has devastating effects on people, communities and their livelihoods. According to the ICMC, 24 million new displacements by disaster happened in 2016. Many more are displaced by less spectacular but more permanent slow onset impact of climate change like sea level rise or desertification. Better evidence is needed here for us to understand how many IDPs cross borders and become migrants or refugees and why. Left unchecked, climate change can become a leading driver of migration and forced displacement worldwide. Migration and disaster displacement in the context of climate change is not primarily a cross border problem. Thousands of internally displaced persons also need protection assistance following disasters and the adverse effects of climate change. The EU sees it as our shared global responsibility to tackle climate change and climate-induced displacement. Our global strategy approaches the nexus between climate migration and security in a joined up way from prevention to managing the impacts. This global strategy also emphasizes the role of building resilience to promote security. Effective and timely adaptation work also helps us address underlying causes of forced displacement. It can prevent, minimize and respond to disruptive impacts. This is why the EU is engaged right now with the most vulnerable countries to increase their resilience. With the 2.9 billion Euro EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa which was created to address the root causes of instability, forced displacement to stem irregular migration and to contribute to better migration management. We in the EU decided to work in unison and to join forces with the private sector. This joining of forces finds its latest manifestation in our external investment plan to help boost investment, growth and decent job creation in partner countries. The EU will provide 3.35 billion Euros with the aim of mobilizing up to 44 billion Euros in investments to help create opportunities and tackle the root causes of forced displacement. Finally, Mr. Chair, the EU's member of the steering group of the Platform on Disaster Displacement and supports the implementation of the protection agenda resulting from the Nansen Initiative in close cooperation with IOM. I thank you very much. Thank you very much. In the interest of keeping the minister on schedule, I'll stop the questions here. I hope you'll submit statements and in the respect of the other delegates that perhaps let the minister respond first if you have anything. Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much, Mr. Director General. I apologize for not being able to stay here for longer but I will give you more time in the next few days, months and years to come because the subject is so important to me. And I would like to say to the representative of Costa Rica that I am outraged, I am very surprised and frightened that it has taken us 30 years to understand the reality in front of us. If we take another 30 years to go from this reality to the implementation of our objectives, if there is really a 30-year gap, I don't know if humanity will, should keep the word, the term humanity. I want to be an optimist, of course, but we are going to have to change how we do things. Money will not to do everything but money will facilitate a lot of things. We can't ignore that. In 2008, when there was the financial crisis, we showed such creativity to be able to save the banking sector. And without being demagogic here, it did not take eternity to avoid a collective bankruptcy. And I have to say that I hope that we will be able to have the same amount of creativity to help our fellow citizens and to help humanity as a whole. Now, to respond to Madagascar's question, we must say, we must, and for the future, and this is really the purpose of the event that we will be organizing in France, but I'm saying this very cautiously, of course, because I can't presuppose of state's intentions. But of course, we will have to completely put on an equal footing attenuation and mitigation because up until now, the phenomenon that we have been seeing, and this has shown us already that climate change is already underway. This is a true tragedy for hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and I remembered that the number two million was mentioned earlier. I think there are a certain number of priorities that should have an influence, of course, on donors' activities, especially when it comes to the most vulnerable populations. We must allow them to protect or rehabilitate, restore their ecosystem, especially arable land. I completely agree with the analysis of Monique Barbu, who is the executive secretary of the UN Convention to combat dissertification. If we undertake a worldwide movement to allow certain countries, and here I'm thinking about African states, and more particularly the Sahel region, if we pledge all of these different means to rehabilitate dissertified lands, and we know how to do this, thanks to agroecology, this would allow us three things. First of all, avoid people leaving their territories. Secondly, for people to come back to their land. And thirdly, it would make sure that this land was arable once again, and therefore they would be able to fight against climate change, because these people would then be able to stock carbon dioxide and, of course, participate to mitigating the migratory phenomenon that we have been observing here. I also believe that we must do everything at our disposal, because the technologies are available. We need to render them economically accessible to all of these countries for renewable energies to become an accessible common public good for all of humanity. So this is just what I wanted to say very briefly. Once again, France will, of course, be at your side, Mr. Director General, and we will be an tireless ally. Thank you very much for your attention, and I would like to also thank the other panelists for this event. I have been discovered since I became minister that the formula agenda for a minister was not just a legend, and indeed, I am very, very busy and very booked up. Thank you very much. Thank you.