The Importance of Adding Climate Refugees to the Agenda
Makenna Hartwich
At the COP26 climate summit, world leaders have met in Glasgow to discuss their country’s progress in meeting international climate accords. One vital issue has been added to this year’s agenda: climate migration. It is essential to address the root causes of climate change; however, leaders cannot afford to delay planning for climate-induced human migration, the beginning waves of which are already in motion.
The frequency and severity of climate-fuelled disasters have increased rapidly in recent decades, forcing many from their homes. In 1970, Lester Brown of the WorldWatch Institute coined the term “environmental refugee” to describe people who “are forced to migrate from their homelands because environmental conditions made it too dangerous to stay.” Last month, the World Bank predicted in its Groundswell report that more than 200 million migrants will be internally displaced due to climate-related issues by 2050, 60 million more than it previously estimated in 2018.
Climate-related disasters not only destroy communities and homes, but incidents such as severe droughts can force people to flee due to lack of water and food insecurity. Climate refugees, like other refugees, face hostility migrating and competition for limited resources increases conflicts (Oxfam).
Small island nations are the most vulnerable to climate-related disasters with rising sea levels their very existence. Tuvalu has already lost one of its ten islands to sea levels rising; Tuvalu’s government has started making relocation plans for all of their 11,000 citizens “knowing that the country’s demise is inevitable” (Doran). Haiti is also facing similar concerns as well as added strains from its devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake in 2010; Hurricane Matthew, a category four hurricane in 2016; and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in August of this year followed shortly after by Tropical storm Grace.
These events, in addition to political turmoil within Haiti, led to a mass exodus of Haitian refugees. Images emerged earlier this month of US border patrol officers brutally turning away approximately 30,000 Haitian migrants in search of asylum at the US-Mexico border (Council on Foreign Relations). The international community widely condemned the Biden administration for turning away the Haitian refugees. The response highlights the failure of the US and other nations to prepare for accepting climate refugees from nations most at risk.
The US and other developed countries also face the issues of relocating internally displaced climate refugees. Louisiana currently loses one football field (1.32 acres) of coastal land every 100 minutes, prompting thousands to migrate from the state. Hurricanes and Tropical Storms have battered the Eastern and Southern coasts of the US with increased frequency and severity. California wildfires have burned millions of acres, destroying thousands of homes. One 2018 study, published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, predicts that one in 12 Americans in the southern half of the country will relocate over the next 45 years due to slow-onset climate influences alone.
The ideal solution would be to stop climate change in its tracks to ensure everyone can remain safely in their homes, but it is now too late for that. Failing to create global plans for climate refugees is naive and unproductive. As the world grows increasingly interdependent, climate-related disasters in one part of the world affect everyone and necessitate international responsibility to help asylum seekers. While working to lower greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change will be the central focus of the climate summit, leaders must also begin to plan for mass migration in the coming decades.
References:
Americans Are Becoming Climate Refugees
Where Should Haitians Go - Why Environmental Refugees are up the Creek without a Paddle