Undefined and Unprotected
McCourt opens up the conversation on climate migrants
By: Kat Pardoe
Climate change conjures up images of melting icebergs, disappearing coastlines, bleached coral reefs, and arid lands — but what about images of people? Millions of people are displaced by climate-related events each year. These people are forced from their homes and livelihoods both by catastrophic events, such as hurricanes, and slow moving processes, such as coastal decline. Populations within developing countries, particularly in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America are among the most vulnerable, but climate migration is by no means a far-away issue; within the Americas, the United States ranks second for number of people displaced each year due to climate-related events. In light of these trends, on November 8, McCourt’s Energy & Environment Policy Group, in partnership with the Latin American Policy Association, invited a panel of renowned speakers to campus to discuss this pressing, yet neglected policy issue.
Panelist Lauren Herzer Risi, of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center, spoke of the climate migration in numbers. There are 258 million migrants all over the world. The exact proportion of which are climate migrants is difficult to determine, in large part because people who are displaced by climate-related events may not recognize and report that their displacement is connected to changing climatic conditions; however, a World Bank report posits that, by mid-century, over 140 million migrants will have been displaced due to impacts of climate change. Herzer Risi explained that most of these migrants are internally displaced, and that most international migration happens between developing countries. Thus, growing numbers of climate migrants put strain on populations at home and abroad, and increasingly become a concern for both domestic and international security of vulnerable states.
Muthukumara S. Mani, Lead Economist for the South Asia Region of the World Bank, touched on some of the internal challenges nations may face as climate migrants continue to grow in number. Urbanization has been one key consequence of climate change; strains on crop yields, land loss and water shortages are all drivers of rural migration to cities, particularly in developing countries. Mani warns that, if this trend is to continue, municipal infrastructure (encompassing everything from electricity grids, to transportation, to sewer lines) must be updated. This presents a daunting challenge to developing countries already struggling to support their urban and rural populations as they stand. The influx of climate migrants to cities causes tension amongst residents as overcrowding becomes apparent and, in some cases, ethnic differences collide. Mani stressed the importance of viewing climate migrants as assets, or human capital, instead of seeing them as burdens to society. It is clear that all elements of society — from infrastructures to attitudes — must be able to adapt to climate migration.
Though these threats are imminent, and millions of migrants have already been displaced due to climatic events, there is no framework yet in place to address the complications associated with climate-based migration.
Panelist Ivonne Garza, Georgetown graduate and international public and human rights lawyer, noted that one of the greatest obstacles impeding assistance for climate migrants is simply crafting a legal definition for their circumstance; unlike the term “refugee” (a misnomer commonly used for those displaced by climatic events), there has been no international convention nor consensus on the criteria that define a climate migrant. According to Garza, establishing a legal definition for these affected people is the first step in establishing a framework to protect them. She pointed to diplomatic achievements such as the Cartagena Declaration (1984) and Brazil Declaration (2014) as models for development of a comprehensive, international framework.
As the impacts of climate change intensify and greater numbers of people experience its effects, the absence of a framework for supporting climate migrants becomes evermore perilous; however, the challenges to addressing climate migration are not insurmountable. Legal, economic and policy foundations exist; it is simply a matter of fortifying and expanding their reach. Each panelist stressed that, above all, addressing climate migration should be thought of as an opportunity for international collaboration and innovative policy design.
About the Author: Kat Pardoe is a first-year student at the McCourt School pursuing her Master’s of Public Policy with a concentration in environmental policy. At McCourt, Kat is the Chief of Staff for the Energy & Environment Policy Group, and a member of Georgetown Public Policy Review’s Podcast Team. She is a graduate of Bucknell University and the Keep Maryland Beautiful Coordinator for Maryland Environmental Trust.
