The State of the European Union. The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 98 The Global Pact on Migration recognises the need to mitigate the adverse drivers and struc- tural factors that compel people to leave their countries of origin, including natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change and envi- ronmental degradation and provides a list of specific actions required to meet this challenge. These include: – Strengthening joint analysis and information sharing so as to better understand, predict and prepare responses to migratory flows such as those that may result from sudden- onset and slow-onset natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change and envi- ronmental degradation as well as other pre- carious situations, while ensuring the effec- tive respect, protection and fulfilment of the human rights of all migrants. – Developing adaptation and resilience strate- gies to sudden-onset and slow-onset natural disasters and the adverse effects of climate change that take into account the potential implications for migration while recognizing that adaptation in the country of origin is a priority. – Integrating displacement considerations into disaster preparedness strategies and pro- moting cooperation with neighbouring countries to prepare for early warning, con- tingency planning, stockpiling, coordination mechanisms, evacuation planning, reception and assistance arrangements and public in- formation. – Developing coherent approaches to address the challenges of migration movements in the context of sudden-onset and slow-onset natural disasters, taking into consideration relevant recommendations from State-led consultative processes such as the Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change (the Nansen Initiative) and the Platform on Disaster Displacement. The Global Pact on Migration falls short on one key issue. While its landmark recognition of natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change and environmental degradation as driv- ers of migratory flows and its calls upon signa- tory nations to mitigate the structural factors that lead to such displacements are laudable, the agreement does not contemplate the obli- gation to extend any form of legal migrant sta- tus , only humanitarian assistance to address the vulnerabilities of persons affected by sudden- onset and slow-onset natural disasters at the regional and sub-regional level. One week after the Global Pact on Migration was approved in the atmosphere of a major me- dia event, the international community quietly approved another accord on which there had been far greater consensus: The Global Compact on Refugees. 6 UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has described the Global Pact on Refugees as the greatest effort made to date to share responsibility for refugee-related issues 7 that comes at a crucial moment when the need for refugee relief has reached unprecedented dimensions in places as diverse as Central America, Bangladesh, Syria, the Euro– Mediterranean region and Sub-Saharan Africa. In his opening statement at the 69th session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme held in October 2018, Grandi praised multilateral commitments such as the Global Pact on Refugees for provid- ing ‘a rallying point for humane, practical peo- ple from all parts of society’, further noting, 6   https://undocs.org/es/A/73/12(PARTII) 7   https://www.cear.es/cear-reclama-a-espana-coherencia- tras-la-firma-del-pacto-mundial-sobre-migracion/