How climate change causes displacement of people
Published on the 02 May 2019
Prof Jane McAdam of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law and Prof John Church of the Climate Change Research Centre on the side of climate change that most people haven't considered - displacement of people.
Every second, somebody is displaced as a result of disaster or the impacts of climate change. There are now more people displaced as a consequence of disasters and climate change than by conflict and persecution.
If we continue greenhouse gas emissions on our current trajectory, 'business as usual', then sea level rise will accelerate, and there will be consequences from that. People will be forced to move from their location, either temporarily or permanently. Some of these people will move within nations, but in some cases they may be forced to cross national borders.
The fact is that people are already moving. This isn't just a problem in the future; it's happening right now. We know that if migration pathways existed, people would use them. People would much rather travel safely than having to take dangerous routes to find protection.
It's really important that the community understands the climate change issues and that they make known their feelings to the politicians. We urgently need to mitigate our greenhouse gas emissions.
This is a really pressing issue for the region in which we live. Our Pacific Island nations face an existential threat if we don't start to address this challenge now.
There's no time to waste. To avoid the worst case disasters, our politicians need to heed these calls and take action now.