London Roundtable explores opportunities for investor engagement at intersectioN of climate change and migration
28 June London Roundtable on Migration, Climate Adaptation & Finance
CLIMATE-LINKED MIGRATION AS A CROSS-CUTTING INVESTMENT THEME
Human mobility, and the limits placed on it, impact a number of critical global macro trends and have investment implications across industries, geographics and asset classes. These impacts and implications will become increasingly significant as migration becomes a critical form of climate change adaptation.
The way climate-driven migration intersects with existing climate change, human rights, and SDG-themed investment strategies was the topic of a roundtable led by the new Working Group on Migration, Climate Adaptation and Finance (MCAF) and hosted at the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment in London on 28 June.
Expert speakers from the Climate and Migration Coalition, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Privacy International, and Impactt shared insights with investors on how climate-linked migration could shape opportunities and risks in various industries, and the political economy of numerous countries and regions.
MCAF Co-Chairs Barbara Pomfret and Hamish Stewart shared plans for a multi-year convening of investors to examine and better understand how human mobility in the context of climate change adaptation can be integrated into existing stewardship and thematic investment strategies. Important links with existing investor work on just transition themes, commitments to end modern slavery, investing in human capital management and climate adaptation globally were also discussed.
ADVOCATING FOR SAFE, REGULAR AND RESPONSIBLE MIGRATION POLICY
As new patterns of human mobility within and between countries emerge in response to climate impacts, investors have an important role to play in advocating for effective and responsible migration policy that delivers innovation and equity across the global economy.
Roundtable experts shared three important ways that investors can and should embrace this enabling role in support of climate adaptation, innovation, and human rights via mobility.
1. Understand the macro picture to inform engagement and investment strategy
Investors can educate themselves to understand the facts of a highly politicised and frequently distorted public policy issue. Information in the public domain in G7 countries often fails to reflect the reality of global migration patterns and climate adaptation pathways. Alex Randall highlighted the important role that internal migration, from climate-impacted rural areas to cities, is likely to play in climate adaptation. Beyond internal migration, climate-driven cross-border migration does and will come in various forms, with some migration being permanent, but seasonal ‘circular migration’ driven by working patterns also prominent. But there remains a significant lack of data to support future climate-driven migration scenarios.
2. Speak up to redefine migration as a human capital and innovation opportunity
Investors can present the rational, economic case for more responsible migration policy. Dr. Johann Harnoss, partner at BCG, presented the findings of a multi-year work programme on Innovation Without Borders, which highlights the opportunity for migration to accelerate growth and innovation. Positioning migration as a solution to OECD countries’ demographic and productivity challenges, and accounting for the human capital development innovation that migrants afford, BCG finds that the annual economic contribution of migrants could reach $20 trillion by 2050. BCG’s research provides guidance to C-Suite leaders to ensure they can embrace this cause and gain strategic human capital advantages while doing so.
3. Integrate human mobility into existing investment stewardship initiatives
Investors should consider existing relevant research and stewardship efforts through a human mobility and migrant rights lens. Rosey Hurst from Impactt highlighted how migrant workers are at the centre of and disproportionately affected by areas of existing investor concern relating to labour standards, modern slavery, and forced labour. Lucie Audibert from Privacy International highlighted how concerns about the abuse of migrant rights at borders are aligned with broader investor efforts to engage with technology firms on human rights - for example the use of GPS tagging in migrant surveillance, contravening human rights including freedom of movement and the right to privacy.
The roundtable was an initial convening of investors on this important topic and the beginning of a longer term action-oriented dialogue with investors led by MCAF.