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WWW.READMETRO.COM SEPTEMBER 2019
Climate change migration gains strength
Several organisations have been warning about the birth of a new type of migrants, who are forced to leave their lands because of the climate change. Metro investigates the phenomenon. DANIEL CASILLAS
Metro World News
Migration remains one of the most important problems at the international level. Millions of people abandon their places of birth to reach other regions and find a better life. Violence, political persecution, lack of work and poverty continue to be the main reasons to leave. However, specialists have started to identify global warming as a decisive factor in international migration, with southern regions and those close to the equator as the most affected ones. “Migration is a complex phenomenon historically driven by a variety of factors. However, in recent years, the climate crisis has become one of the triggers. Climate change worsens extreme weather events in severity and frequency. Some extreme events like hurricanes, storms and droughts are triggering mobility processes known as ‘environmental migrants’,” Gustavo Máñez, UN Environment Coordinator for Climate Change for Latin America and the Caribbean, explained to Metro. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are currently no reliable estimates of climate change-induced migration. Future forecasts range from 25 million to 1 billion environmental migrants by 2050, who move within their countries or across borders, permanently or temporarily, with 200 million being the most frequently cited estimate. This figure is equivalent to the current estimate of international migrants worldwide. But although there is no reliable data, in recent months we saw hundreds of
people from Central America – particularly from the so-called ‘Dry Corridor’ – leaving their homes to reach the United States, due to the loss of crops as a result of the droughts that have hit the region. And although the majority of migrants from that region leave their countries for economic and political reasons, the number of people who do so because of environmental problems is growing. “The thin isthmus we call Central America is an area of the world affected by hurricanes on both coasts, as well as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and droughts. These extreme weather events have affected livelihoods, especially in rural areas. If they migrate into the cities they encounter criminal and political violence. It’s a no-win situation. Americans perceive them as economic migrants but their migration is also political and environmental. The three causes are intertwined,” Maria Cristina Garcia, professor
of American studies at Cornell University, said. This migration, due to political, economic and environmental reasons, has contributed to the generation of a humanitarian crisis involving Central America, Mexico and the U.S., according to follows Catherine M. Tucker, professor at the department of anthropology of the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida. “There is already a humanitarian crisis. It is impacting Mexico and the U.S. all along their border crossings, and in the U.S. the detention centres for migrants, holding people of all ages including babies and young children, are reminiscent of concentration camps,” Tucker commented. Although Central America is currently the most shocking case of climate change migration, there are other regions that are also in danger. According to a 2018 World Bank report, unless urgent climate and development action is taken at
both the international and national levels, three developing regions of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America could face tens of millions of climate migrants, in addition to the millions of people currently moving within and outside their countries for economic, social, political or other reasons. But can something be done to reduce the growing numbers? Specialists believe that in addition to limiting greenhouse gas emissions, it is necessary to adapt to climate change and have a resilient development. “As the UN Paris Climate Agreement states, action needs to be taken to “avert, minimise and address” such movements. Firstly climate change mitigation needs to limit greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of carbon sinks – this would reduce changes in the climate over time. Secondly, climate change adaptation and resilient development can enable people to live sustainable lives which are not threatened by climate change,” Robert Oakes, senior researcher on migration and environment at United Nations University, concluded.
WORLD MAP OF THE CLIMATE RISK INDEX 1998-2017 ÍNDICE DE RIESGO CLIMÁTICO 1998-2017 SOURCE: GERMANWATCH
CLIMATE RISK INDEX: RANKING 1998-2017
COUNTRIES MOST AFFECTED BY EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS
* COUNTRIES WHERE MORE THAN 90% OF THE LOSSES OR DEATHS OCCURRED IN ONE YEAR OR EVENT
1. PUERTO RICO * 2. HONDURAS 3. MYANMAR * 4. HAITI 5.PHILIPPINES 6. NICARAHUA 7. BANGLADESH 8. PAKISTAN 9. VIETNAM 10.DOMINICA
Q&A
DR ROBERT OAKES,
senior researcher on migration and environment at United Nations University
Is climate change affecting international migration? Most migration related to climate change is internal. This is because people tend to move short distances for financial, familial and cultural reasons. However, sometimes people do cross borders. This can happen when they are impacted close to a border (for example, floods in the Himalayas), live on an island and have limited places to move domestically (for example, Hurricanes in the Atlantic and sea level rise in the Pacific) and they move to an urban area which has links with international routes for further migration (Rural Africa to Urban Africa to Europe). Tell more about it. Quick onset events such as cyclones near the equator are more frequent and more intense under climate change as the temperature of the sea increases. Such storms displace people. In Small Island Developing States in the Pacific rises in sea-levels flood homes and damage livelihoods and contaminate potable water meaning people want to move to find more secure livelihoods. States such as Fiji are starting to relocate parts of their populations in order to place them in safer environments where they are not exposed to sea-level rise. At the same time rainfall patterns are changing with more frequent and longer droughts. People in Sahelian Africa may move to seek access to water and and fodder for their cattle. Describe the profile of climate migrants. The poorest and vulnerable groups (young, old, women, disabled,
ethnic minorities) tend to be most affected by the impacts of climate change as they have the least capacity to adapt to it. But they might not be able to move away from a risk as they lack the material means. My own research in Kiribati, Tuvlau and Nauru found that many people lack the money or permits to move, but equally some people do not want to move as they fear losing their homes and culture. Finally some people who move are able to do so as a way of adapting to climate change – they are not all victims – some are able to make a success of moving by for example sending remittances home to be used to buy food or invest in a new business. Which regions are the most affected by climate change? Most of the world, but especially the global south and areas near the equator. A simple way of looking at it is to consider areas with too little and too much water. Floods in lowlying coastal regions (Bangladesh), sea-level rise and storms in coastal regions and islands (Pacific) and drought in arid regions (much of Africa) and moutainous regions (Andes). But rich countries are also increasingly affected by heatwaves and increased storms and floods. Do you believe part of the recent migration from Central America to the U.S. is a consequence of climate change? Absolutely. In Central (and Southern) America it is impossible to separate the economy and the environment. Many so-called economic migrants are moving because their farms or food prices have been affected by drought. If migration continues to grow due to climate change, should we expect a humanitarian crisis? Climate change has already contributed to many humanitarian crises triggered by floods and droughts. It is likely that in the future this number will grow as an growing population is impacted by more, and more intense climate hazards.