Migration as an Adaptation to Strategy to Increasing Severe Weather Patterns
Evidence suggests that as climate change worsens, many vulnerable communities will be forced to adapt to physical changes in a community. As outlined previously in a recent UN report on climate change, poverty, and potential adaptation strategies, individuals threatened by the impacts of climate change have three options when their once-permanent place of residence is under threat. They can stay in place and accept the costs of environmental change. They can choose to stay in place and attempt to mitigate changes. Or, they can leave the affected area, thus, becoming a migrant. The third option outlines a growing phenomenon that raises significant doubts and legal implications. Can migration be an effective adaptation strategy to the impacts of climate change? One would like to think so. However, understanding the legal guidelines of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement implies a different reality.
It is important to understand the state of the environment in order to analyze how and why people have become vulnerable to displacement. With climate change, there has been an increase in strength and severity of storms, floods and droughts, as well as a rapidly rising sea level. The rise in intensity of these hazards has forced people to flee in search of a place that is safer, has their necessary resources and the potential to increase their quality of life. Tropical cyclones, frequently accompanied by floods, severely impact infrastructure and resources. The impact can be sudden, causing mass displacement over a short period. These storms and floods tend to affect more impoverished communities that cannot permanently migrate. With limited options, this population remains susceptible to suffering from unsafe living conditions coupled with a lack of access to basic necessities.
Similar to tropical cyclones, droughts often force migration, but over a more extended period. Droughts are estimated to displace vast amounts of people due to an exponentially growing human population requiring drinkable water. Additionally, as global temperatures rise and immense portions of ice melt, sea levels will continue to rise. Populations living on islands or low lying terrain are extremely susceptible to involuntary migration. The relationship between climate change and severe weather patterns on communities and individuals is alarming and is a direct threat to several fundamental human rights.
While estimates vary about the number of expected climate-related migrants, the general range lies between 250 million and one billion people. In a world that is so threatened by migration, how can society adapt to meet the needs and basic human rights to such a vast quantity of people? As it stands now, we are not in good shape. We must do better. A majority of those displaced by climate change have no legal protection. Both the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the Guiding Principles of Internal Displacement have very narrow definitions. For the latter, climate-related refugees may receive protection because of the clause to protect those displaced by natural disasters. However, their protection is only viable if their displacement remains within the borders of their origin country. The UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is entirely inadequate in addressing the gross amount of climate-related migrants. The Convention only protects those who are fleeing from persecution due to race, religion, nationality, or political opinion. Within these two existing frameworks, climate-related migrants do not receive protection. This fact is worrisome because, in the United States and Europe, governments are actively struggling to handle the influx of migration.
Some believe that there are reasons to include climate-induced migration under the definition of refugee in the UN Convention because, in its unique way, climate-related migration is fleeing from persecution, especially in places where government negligence has exacerbated climate change. However, to include this wide range of migrants under the UN Convention may take meaning away from the original definition. It is necessary to address the growing number of climate related migrants and the worsening state of the environment more adequately, and the international community must come to terms with the science and then make a change. A new convention that focuses entirely on climate changes’ impact on migration and grants protections to those displaced may be the most clear and effective way of addressing climate-related migration on a scale compatible with the phenomenon.
Written By Charles Beauregard, Refuge Press Intern, Summer 2019
About the IIHA
The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) prepares current and future aid workers with the knowledge and skills needed to respond effectively in times of humanitarian crisis and disaster. Our courses are borne of an interdisciplinary curriculum that combines academic theory with the practical experience of seasoned humanitarian professionals. The IIHA also publishes on a wide range of humanitarian topics and regularly hosts a number of events in the New York area, including the annual Humanitarian Blockchain Summit and Design for Humanity Summit.
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