Climate Change, Conflict and Displacement: The Ripple Effect
18. June 11:15 - 12:30
Plenary Area
This session aims to examine how the intersecting crises of climate change, conflict, and displacement reshape human mobility in fragile and post-conflict settings. Ukrainian cities as a case study will be explored to better understand how environmental stressors and conflict fragilities interact to influence population movements, increasing the pressures on energy supply, housing, natural eco-system and essential service, and shifting the dynamics of post-conflict recovery and the opportunity to build back greener and more inclusive into a different level. Drawing on insights from ICLEI Ukraine Roadmap and member municipalities, we aim to highlight on urban governance challenges and resilience-building opportunities at the local level, providing a focal focus to analyse climate-sensitive reconstruction, inclusive green recovery, and democratic participation strategies within the wider Pan-European multi-crisis context. This session will provide an opportunity to start a conversation on climate-induced migration, relocation, and shelters in the broader European context and beyond. This session will also draw on the analytical and operational contributions of key international partners, building on existing research on anticipatory action, protracted displacement and climate mobility. The discussion will explore how risk-informed and forecast-based approaches can reduce secondary displacement and strengthen resilience pathways in fragile contexts. Insights and practical perspectives on climate mobility governance, displacement tracking tools, anticipatory preparedness and community-based adaptation across Europe and the MENA region will also be explored, highlighting the role of geospatial displacement mapping expertise in integrating Earth observation, GIS and spatial risk analytics to identify displacement hotspots, population exposure, infrastructure vulnerability and cascading climate-conflict risks, supporting evidence-based anticipatory action planning and targeted resilience interventions.
Speakers
Professor, University of Twente
Prof. Dr. Monika Kuffer, Professor, University of Twente
Monika is a Professor of Sustainability of Rural-Urban Systems at the University of Twente. Her research centres on spatial inequalities, urban planning and sustainable development, particularly in relation to the SDGs. She employs data-driven, user-centered approaches, integrating bottom-up methods such as citizen science with advanced technologies including remote sensing, AI, GIS, and Big Data. Her work aims to inform evidence-based policymaking on housing, environment, climate change, energy transition, economics, infrastructure, and services. Monika co-chairs the international IDEAMAPS network, dedicated to mapping deprivation, leads and contributes to several research projects on urban deprivation, housing quality, and environment, including IDEAtlas, ONEKANA, Dyneo4slums, CityNext, PurePolis, and SPACE4ALL. She is a Steering Committee Member of JURSE, and serves as the Dutch representative for the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories (EARSeL).
Chairman of Vinnytsia City Council, Vinnytsia City Council
Pavlo Yablonskyi, Chairman of Vinnytsia City Council, Vinnytsia City Council
Elected Chairman of Vinnytsia City Council at the 1st sessions of both the 7th and 8th convocations. In the October 25, 2020 elections, was elected deputy of the 8th convocation from the Vinnytsia regional organization of the political party “Groisman’s Ukrainian Strategy.” In the October 25, 2015 elections, was elected deputy of the 7th convocation of the City Council. In the October 31, 2010 elections, was elected deputy of the 6th convocation of Vinnytsia City Council and chaired the Standing Committee on Industry, Entrepreneurship, Transport, Communications, and Services. From 2008 to 2015, worked as Commercial Director of Inter-Trade LLC. From 1999 to 2007, worked as a private entrepreneur. Graduated from Vinnytsia State Technical University in 1998 with a degree in Heat and Gas Supply, Ventilation, and Environmental Protection.
Research Fellow, ODI Global
Dr. Kerrie Holloway, Research Fellow, ODI Global
Kerrie is a Research Fellow in HPG, focusing on displacement. Her research interests include climate change and conflict, urban displacement, displaced livelihoods, public attitudes towards refugees and migrants and more intangible aspects of displacement, such as social cohesion, gender norms and dignity. Her most recent research centres on climate adaptation in urban displacement.
Head, Land, Property and Reparations Unit, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Igor Cvetkovski, Head, Land, Property and Reparations Unit, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Igor Cvetkovski is international expert on reparations, transitional justice and housing, land and property restitution and Head of the IOM’s Land, Property, Reparations and TJ Unit at the IOM Headquarters in Geneva. Most recently he served as Senior Advisor on Reparations and Transitional Justice and Reparations with the office of the International Organization for Migration in Ukraine. Before that Igor provided consultancy services, expert advice and technical support to various organizations. Until July 2020, Igor was the Head of the Land, Property and Reparations Unit in the IOM Headquarters in Geneva.
Igor studied philosophy and has more than 20 years of experience in the humanitarian, peace, human rights, transitional justice and development sectors, particularly on issues related to reparations for human rights violations and land and property restitution.
Moderators
Senior Advisor for Policy & Advocacy, ICLEI Europe
Holger Robrecht, Senior Advisor for Policy & Advocacy, ICLEI Europe
In partnership with the European Environment Agency, Holger founded the European Urban Resilience Forum for mainstreaming resilience in the urban Europe. As a Spatial Planner with more +35 years experience, he is specialised in integrated sustainability management and planning. Holger joined ICLEI in 1997 and was Deputy Regional Director for Europe for over a decade. As Senior Advisor Policy & Advocacy, he continues to support ICLEIs strategies to innovative, systemic solutions for sustainable cities and communities, their climate-resilient, carbon-neutral and nature-positive transformation and their engagement with European policies. Holger represents ICLEI in Europe (incl. the EU Mission on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities, EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change) and internationally (incl. UNFCCC, UNCBD, UNDRR Making Cities Resilient 2030). Since 2020, Holger chairs the European CEN Technical Committee TC 465 ’Sustainable Cities and Communities‘.
Country expert to Ukraine, Covenant of Mayors - East
Oksana Kysil, Country expert to Ukraine, Covenant of Mayors - East
Oksana Kysil brings 16 years of professional experience in working in/with international project teams in the field of energy, climate and environmental policies on state, regional and local levels. Moreover, she has of first-hand experience with the investment attractions and practical implementation of development projects for local infrastructure, energy efficiency, climate and RES.
Oksana Kysil holds Masters in Management and Economy.
Since 2018, she is Country expert of the Covenant of Mayors East project in Ukraine and leading the work on technical assistance to more than 200 municipalities, regional and state institutions.
Senior Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe
Nuha Eltinay, Senior Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe
Dr. Nuha Eltinay is a Senior Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation Expert at ICLEI Europe, worked previously as a Senior Urban Specialist at the World Bank MENA Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice, and supported the UNDRR in the training and implementation of the DRR and Climate Change Comprehensive Risk Management program in the MENA Region, addressing loss and damage interrelated disasters socio-economic impact. Receiving her PhD in Urban Resilience from London South Bank University, and MSc from University of Westminster in International Planning and Sustainable Development. Nuha has several Academic Research papers and contributes to a number of policy documents such as 2019 UNDRR Global Assessment Report and 2019 Overseas Development Institute study on Disaster risk reduction, urban informality and a ‘fragile peace’. Nuha Eltinay recently launched 2024 Book Publication ‘Urban Resilience and Climate Change in the MENA Region’ documenting her PhD journey and provides an overview of the geopolitical context and climate change risk profile of the MENA Region.