OSCE workshop fosters regional dialogue on climate change, human mobility, and security in South-Eastern Europe

On 3 June, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) hosted a regional workshop in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, bringing together over 50 experts, officials, civil society representatives, and practitioners from across South-Eastern Europe.

Titled “Addressing the Interlinkages between Climate Change, Human Mobility and Security to Strengthen Resilience in South-Eastern Europe”, the workshop aimed to deepen evidence-based understanding of the complex links between climate change, migration, and security in the region. The event was organized in partnership with the OSCE Field Operations in South-Eastern Europe and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), with support from the United Kingdom.

Discussions focused on the multi-faceted risks posed by climate change and environmental degradation, ranging from impacts on health and infrastructure to displacement and institutional strain, and explored opportunities for enhanced regional cooperation.

“Climate change is already impacting health, infrastructure, livelihoods as well as driving displacement and straining institutions across South Eastern Europe. One-third of Europe’s disasters over the past century hit this region, with extensive socio-economic impact, also affecting public trust in institutions” said Umut Ergezer, Deputy Secretary General, RCC. “Strengthening collaboration of economies in the region is therefore important to decelerate depopulation and increase resilience of the region.”

Opening remarks from the OCEEA emphasized the OSCE’s role in advancing economic and environmental security. The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina shared local perspectives, while the RCC and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) presented flagship initiatives, including the RCC’s ‘Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and IOM’s Institutional Strategy on Migration, Environment, and Climate Change’.

Experts and project partners from the Berlin-based think-thank adelphi and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) shared early findings from a forthcoming OSCE study. The research assesses to which extent climate change and environmental degradation compound socio-economic drivers of mobility, with growing implications for regional stability.

Through breakout and plenary sessions, participants engaged with the study’s preliminary findings, discussed governance challenges, and offered recommendations for future programming at the intersection of climate change, environment, human mobility and security. They also identified synergies with existing regional initiatives.

“The OSCE study, to be published in November 2025, will provide a state-of-the-art analysis of the climate-mobility-security nexus in South Eastern Europe and outline ways to enhance regional and transboundary co-operation, mitigate climate risks, and strengthen resilience,” said Thomas Ritzer, Senior Advisor on Climate Change and Security at the OSCE, in closing the workshop.

This workshop was held as part of the activity Strengthening the evidence-based understanding of the climate change, human mobility and security nexus in South Eastern Europe, co-managed by OCEEA Climate Change and Economic Governance Unit within the framework of the extra-budgetary project “Strengthening responses to security risks from climate change in South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia” implemented by OCEEA in partnership with adelphi and in close collaboration with the OSCE field operations. The project is funded by Andorra, Austria, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.