Key Takeaways from The Growing Role Climate Migration Will Play at COP27 by Atmos and Climate Nexus
Climate migration is a pervasive and immediate impact of climate change. The reality for people seeking asylum inside or beyond their nations’ borders is harsh. Many countries are not equipped with the resources to support the number of refugees reflected in climate migration projections.
I joined Atmos and Climate Nexus Tuesday for a virtual panel discussion with journalists, advocates, and policy experts to understand more about climate migration — especially the relationship between expected migration patterns and Loss and Damage (a term coined to describe the effects of climate change when people cannot adapt to conditions any further or when options for adaptation exist but a community can’t access them) as world leaders prepare for COP27 at the beginning of November.
The webinar, The Growing Role Climate Migration Will Play at COP27, was conceived in response to reporting by panel moderator and Climate Director of Atmos Yessenia Funes (@yessfun). The report features findings from the World Bank, estimating that “more than 216 million people may migrate within their own countries by 2050 if we don’t act on climate.” It also featured Science magazine which found that global heating will likely result in more migrants dying along the U.S.-Mexico border. This is globally applicable.
To kick off the panel, Funes asked several overarching questions to guide the forum: What can we do in the international space to draw connections between climate change and migration? How is climate change already impacting the journeys of migrants?
Funes was joined by Kayly Ober (@KaylyOber), Senior Advocate & Program Manager for the Climate Displacement Program at Refugees International; Julie Watson (@watson_julie), reporter at The Associated Press covering the U.S.-Mexico border, immigration policy, and more for over 20 years; and Dr. Saleemul Huq (@SaleemulHuq2), Director of the International Center for Climate Change & Development in Bangladesh and Professor at Independent University, Bangladesh. The panel was designed to help audience members learn more about the connection between climate change and migration while discussing solutions and the role of advocacy.
After expert panelists took the floor, some of the webinar’s top takeaways included:
- It’s not just economic migrants showing up at the border anymore: While climate is often one of many reasons that people choose or are forced to leave their homes, it’s more frequently becoming the tipping point. Many migrant people suffer catastrophic floods, hurricanes, or rising threats of natural disasters which leads them to flee to safety. Though gang-related violence is often cited as the reason for migrating, journalists like Watson have uncovered that migrants have other motives. Many don’t share climate-related justifications for fear of being dismissed or ignored. Journalists have a responsibility to find out the real reasons why people are leaving, shed light on these stories, and push for action to support those people.
- There is no reference to climate in refugee statuses in countries across the globe: Climate migration is not largely recognized. Most countries in the world agree that a refugee is defined as someone fleeing based on fear of being “persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.” This does not include natural causes (e.g. hurricanes, floods, droughts, pollution, crop failure, etc.). While some countries like Italy and Uganda do offer protection for climate displaced people, the status of climate migrants as refugees is not internationally acknowledged.
- Most countries are not prepared for the population shifts that result from migrating climate refugees: As millions of people move, they will usually seek safe haven in their country’s capital. Most urban centers are not ready with ample housing, job opportunities, and the transitional resources needed to support an influx of what could be millions of migrants. To tackle the problem of population shock, Dr. Huq shared his thoughts within the context of Bangladesh. Leaders have identified smaller towns outside of Dhaka with the goal to make them climate resilient migrant-friendly towns. The intent is to build social capital and infrastructure that can absorb migrants who will be forced out of the low-lying rural coasts in the country — and to incentivize people to move to these opportunity- and capital-rich centers instead of the slums of Dhaka. Planning for intracountry climate displacement is just as essential as intercountry.
- Climate migration and Loss and Damage are not official agenda items at COP27: The agenda at COP27 is more or less consistent from year to year. Historically, climate migration and Loss and Damage have not been explicitly addressed, despite growing concern. As COP27 negotiations near, the coalition of developing countries known as G77 is demanding that a new item, for creating a finance facility to compensate nations for Loss and Damage, be added to the conference agenda. This proposal will, however, require a wide consensus from the nations in attendance. It’s hard to imagine rich, leading CO2 emitters, namely the United States, agreeing to discuss Loss and Damage at COP27. This would, to some extent, require the country to acknowledge the expansive harm it has inflicted and would precipitate potential financial accountability.
- Extractive enterprises have led to present-day climate displacement: Colonization has led to many systemic issues and is the cornerstone to understanding displacement due to climate change. Early industrialization resulted in high levels of CO2 emissions throughout history since the 1850s. Integral to this industrialization in the U.S. was slavery, exploitation, and the depletion of natural resources. Extraction has also led to an omnipresent wealth gap between rich and poor countries, with insidious consequences within the context of climate change. While wealthier countries are historically to blame for climate change, poorer countries will disproportionately experience its effects as they do not have the reserves to support displaced people losing their homes to floods, droughts, fires, and other climate-related catastrophes. Additionally, colonization played a key role in drawing borders in much of the world. That history, entangled with present-day border enforcement, makes the task of finding safety even more formidable.
Climate migration represents a global struggle for human rights. But next to nothing is being done to protect the people on the frontlines of this crisis. In the near future, Loss and Damage must be an official topic of conversation at COP27. Coming out of the negotiations, there will ideally be an agreed upon intent to set up a finance facility to compensate nations for Loss and Damage. Additionally, there will have been meaningful conversations and a commitment from the majority of attendees to acknowledge the status of climate migrants.
International leaders must be proactive by beginning to make plans to accept migrants from other countries and equipping their urban centers for population influxes. Moreover, colonizers should be offering reparations to countries like Pakistan and Somalia which are facing this problem now and are in need of funds to support climate displaced people.
