The Climate Crisis is a Refugee Crisis
What will the future of migration look like if we don’t act now?
The climate crisis, defined as drastic climate change, already is and will continue to impact human lives—putting refugees at particular risk.
More than 97% of actively publishing climate scientists agree that the climate crisis is real, and that it is primarily due to human activity.
As we look at how the climate crisis is putting all of our lives—and refugee lives in particular—at risk, it is important to examine the root causes of this crisis. For instance, 100 fossil fuel companies are responsible for around 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Between 2000 and 2019, extreme weather accounted for 9.45% of all deaths globally—approximately five million per year. This stat includes deaths related to both cold and warm temperatures, as climate change increases both of those extremes. Five million deaths is an astronomical number that is difficult to truly grasp. To put it in context, more people died from extreme weather than COVID-19 last year.
Unfortunately, the death toll pales in comparison to the 20 million who are forced to leave their homes each year due to extreme weather. The climate crisis is forcing more people to become refugees, and it is putting existing refugees at even greater risk. Many refugees, stateless people, and internally displaced persons often live in climate “hotspots” with minimal resources to protect against climate change—leaving them gravely susceptible to death, loss, health challenges, and poverty.
“To put it in context, more people died from extreme weather than COVID-19 last year.”
To prevent catastrophic climate migration, we need to slow climate change.
In the face of something as daunting and devastating as the climate crisis, let us remember that we are not powerless.
We have power in our voice, our wallets, and our organizing. We can leverage these tools on behalf of the millions of climate refugees who have already lost their homes, and the millions more who are at risk for being uprooted in the future.
