Opening Speech on Rights and Integration of Climate-Displaced Persons by Canada

Georgina Songhurst

Georgina Songhurst

Migration and Refugees – Delegation of Canada

Forum: UN General Assembly Third Committee

Topic: Rights and Integration of Climate-Displaced Persons

Mr. Chair, Fellow Delegates, Canada welcomes 740,000 new permanent residents last year, including climate-displaced persons from the Caribbean and Pacific regions.

Yet, globally, millions lack legal pathways to safety, and face statelessness when their homelands become uninhabitable. Canada maintains that protecting the rights of climate migrants is essential to fulfilling the UN Charter’s principles of human dignity and international cooperation.

We propose the drafting of a Global Compact on Climate Displacement, featuring regional resettlement hubs, standardized refugee-status guidelines for climate impacts, and capacity-building grants for host communities. This Compact would ensure that those uprooted by environmental disasters have access to legal protection, education, and livelihood support.

Canada invites co-sponsorship from all delegations committed to solidarity with the displaced, and looks forward to robust debates that lead to concrete, compassionate solutions.

Thank you.