CLIMATE DISPLACEMENT IN THE NEWS
Last week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Sixth Synthesis Report, summarizing the state of knowledge on climate change science with a clear message: “if we act now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all.” The report also makes clear that yes, the climate is changing and with it, patterns of migration as well.
In Chapter 8: Poverty, Livelihoods, and Sustainable Development, the IPCC has a sub-section titled “Box 8.1: Climate Traps: A Focus on Refugees and Internally Displaced Peoples” where the authors highlight the extreme vulnerability refugees and internally displaced peoples have to climate change and how this cycle of multidimensional poverty perpetuates itself - what we might term ‘climate trap.’
The term ‘climate trap’ or ‘poverty trap’ as it is more commonly known, is a concept that is widely used by development practitioners or academics within the scope of development. ‘Poverty trap’ is the notion that poverty begets poverty. Take for example a family in a poor rural community in a developing country who grows crops for sustenance and possibly, livelihood. It is not uncommon for such families to be in dire situations economically that children aren’t able to attend school because even they must work in the fields for their families to survive. During my time in Mongolia, and now in Kyrgyzstan, I’ve seen many families forced into situations like this.
“By 2030, about 250 million people may experience high water stress in Africa, with up to 700 million people displaced as a result.” Seven hundred million people. For context the entire population of Africa is 1.4 billion. That means by 2030 half the continent of Africa could be displaced as a result of climate change.
This dire warning of displacement comes at a time when many African nations are already witnessing record breaking droughts even today.
The report is straightforward about the effects of ‘human-induced’ climate change, but lost in the amplification, as well as the media coverage of the stark warnings is the clear connection of climate change to the burning of fossil fuels by a much smaller group of ‘humans’ who hold particular responsibility for the present climate crisis.
In a new report, the University of California, Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project and the nonprofit EcoAdapt term displacement - whether temporary, permanent, forced or voluntary - as an issue rooted in inequity, now exacerbated by climate change. They warn that climate resilience measures must take into account the needs of disadvantaged populations. Thus building more green space or aligning residential and transit development, for example, may achieve long-term climate objectives but also drive up real estate, and in the process, displace low-to-middle income families through gentrification. Efforts are underway in Los Angeles and Atlanta, where historically marginalized communities have borne the brunt of Atlanta’s flooding and ensuing displacement, to address inequities and address displacement caused by climate-related challenges. Local residents have been consulted, which helps to better inform policy and future strategies (Scientific American)
From the Iraqi cardiologist in Atlanta, the Syrian teacher cleaning hospital wards in London, the Venezuelan doctor saving lives in Lima’s ambulatory service teams, to all those making soap, personal protection equipment, cooking free meals for health workers and volunteering in so many fields, refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants are among the heroes answering the Covid-19 response call. And in so doing, all of a sudden, some people’s concerns over borders and legal statuses are supplanted by the skills, knowledge and experience these populations bring to their foreign homes, showcasing that when people are empowered to contribute, everyone gains. Usually, populations forced to flee are caught in a labor trap, where highly trained professionals’ accreditations go unrecognized in their new homes and credential conversions remain elusive due to bureaucratic hurdles, costs or access to education, which refugees are often denied. As International Workers’ Day approaches and the pandemic refocuses meaning on the “essential worker”, the strengths of refugee contributions should be welcomed into the whole labor market, and not just the health sector. With plans to “build back better”, the vital contributions of refugees should now be made obvious as are the mutual benefits to society they offer. (World Economic Forum)
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been warning for years that rising temperatures are altering the distribution of species such as mosquitoes, allowing them to live in higher altitudes such as the Andes, and with it, serving as vectors for infectious diseases. In 2019, dengue infections reached new records in Latin America, with over 3 million confirmed cases, a sixfold increase from the previous year. Over 1,300 people died but experts believe the death toll to be far higher in worst-affected rural communities where health services are scarce. Now, as the novel coronavirus enters the region, many dengue epidemics are already underway in several countries with Bolivia and Honduras among the hardest hit. IPCC research has shown that it only takes an average temperature rise of between one and two degrees Celsius to allow conditions for mosquito-borne dengue to transmit. The average yearly temperature across Latin America have risen between one and 1.5 degrees Celsius since 1980. Dengue was first identified in Thailand and the Philippines in the 1950’s but by 1970, nine countries had experienced outbreaks, while the disease is now present in over 100 countries in almost every continent. (The New Humanitarian)
According to NASA satellite imagery, since 2003, global sea levels have risen 0.55 inches due to climate change-driven ice melt in Antarctica and Greenland. Record melting in 2019 from rising temperatures saw Greenland’s ice sheet contribute to a sea level rise of 1.5 millimeters, and at this pace, sea levels will rise 2 to 6 feet by 2100, mainly by Greenland and Antarctica, which scientists warn will have dire consequences for coastal residents. Sea level rise will not only destroy coastal property values but also displace people - more than 40% of the US population - and have massive impacts on global markets ($7.9 trillion in US GDP alone) unless measures are taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions all across the world. (CNBC)
