Climate Refugees
The existence of the “climate refugee” is an increasing reality as refugees are displaced by the environmental conditions and disasters created by the climate crisis. In 2017 alone, 60 percent of the 30.6 million people who were displaced were all displaced by climate disasters.
Despite this looming population of people affected, climate refugees still exist outside of the legal framework of protection. Climate impact ranges from drought, to food insecurity, to resource competition, to natural disasters. All of these factors lie outside of the conflicts that typically are associated with migration. Thus, a “protection gap” is created, and climate-impacted refugees slip through the cracks of the protections afforded by international law.
“More than just destroyed homes and unlivable environments, the existence of the climate refugee represents a much larger issue of people displaced by human impact on the environment, of which they disproportionately play no role. ”
As the Climate Refugees Organizations explains, the way that “we are seeing it play out now, it is the poorest and most vulnerable communities - those who contributed the least to global warming - that are paying the price and are hit hardest by this crisis”. With limited protections for those who have almost no role in the problem, the plight of climate refugees becomes a justice issue. More than just destroyed homes and unlivable environments, the existence of the climate refugee represents a much larger issue of people displaced by human impact on the environment, of which they disproportionately play no role.
“Taking climate impact into account as a factor of migration also allows for the complex reality of the motivations that force people to flee from their homes. ”
With the US as one of the leaders in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions, responsible for 15 percent of the global CO2 emissions, we hold a clear responsibility for those displaced by the consequences of our privileges.
Taking climate impact into account as a factor of migration also allows for the complex reality of the motivations that force people to flee from their homes. Particularly in places like Central America, in which people are grappling with violence, food insecurity, and the increasing extremity of climate disasters.
In comprehending the full extent of environmental pressures that displace people and force migration, a new framework can be created in which we are better prepared to understand and face a future of exponentially increasing populations of displaced individuals and families.
