By P. Vangerline Kpotoe
MONROVIA, June 28 (LINA) — Liberia has officially endorsed the Climate Mobility Principles, pledging to move from global commitments to practical, community-driven solutions for climate-driven displacement.
Speaking at the Second Berlin Climate Mobility Forum held from June 18–19, 2026, Dr. Emmanuel King Urey Yarkpawolo, Executive Director of Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency, told the High-Level Ministerial Session that the crisis demands unity, ambition, and local action.
“At a time when global cooperation is tested, this forum gives us a rare chance to confront shared challenges together,” Dr. Yarkpawolo said. “Liberia’s endorsement is not symbolic. It is a commitment to protect people and build resilience where it matters most — in our communities.”
The forum, co-hosted by the Global Centre for Climate Mobility and the Robert Bosch Stiftung, brought together leaders from about 80 countries. Its focus: helping people stay safely in their homes when possible, and ensuring relocation happens with dignity when it cannot be avoided.
From Pledges to Action Dr. Yarkpawolo announced that Liberia, in partnership with the Global Centre for Climate Mobility, will launch a nationwide “Climate Mobility Deep Dive.” Stating that the whole-of-society effort will map climate-related movement risks and build them into Liberia’s adaptation plan to reduce future loss and damage.
To keep communities at the center, the Global Centre’s team will tour Liberia in early July for consultations with citizens on the frontlines of climate change.
The EPA head stressed that climate mobility is driven by rising seas, stronger storms, and environmental damage that threaten homes and livelihoods. The country called for an Adaptation Agenda built on local data and lived experience. Stronger climate information systems and better data will be key to reducing risk before displacement becomes unavoidable.
Liberia welcomed the call to direct 1% of climate funding to communities, but said it is “far too small.” Climate finance must be accessible, predictable, and scaled up because communities bear the heaviest impacts.
The EPA also urged a whole-of-society approach — involving government, local leaders, civil society, women, youth, Indigenous groups, the private sector, academia, and development partners — to shape real solutions.
As a coastal West African nation facing rising climate threats, Liberia pledged to push climate mobility action through ECOWAS and the Mano River Union. “We share one Atlantic shoreline and the same rising tide,” Dr. Yarkpawolo noted.
According to him, the goal is simple: give people the choice to adapt safely — whether that means staying home or moving with dignity.
“By turning these Principles into a shared Adaptation Agenda, we can build resilience, reduce vulnerability, and secure dignity and sustainability for all,” he said.
Delivering the group statement, the Oriental Republic of Uruguay said the G77 + China came to Bonn seeking successful results and engaged proactively across agenda items with flexibility and compromise.
The group expressed deep concern over slow progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation. It stressed that adaptation is a key priority for developing countries and called for forward movement that addresses adaptation needs, including finance.
“The Convention is central to our work. It is the foundation on which we stand,” Uruguay said on behalf of the group. It emphasized that climate action must be fair, balanced, equitable, and guided by the principles of equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities, in line with science and national circumstances.
On finance, the G77 + China noted progress on two of the three mandates of the Adaptation Fund and said parties had agreed to forward the texts for adoption at COP31 in Antalya.
The group also stressed the need to include the “9.1 Climate Finance Work Programme” on the provisional agenda of CMA8, and thanked the COP30 Presidency for requesting its inclusion.