Why migration is a climate matter

Slower impacts of climate change like sea level rise or indirect effects like the spread of disease (see health intersection) affect people’s ability to sustain their livelihoods in their towns or villages, forcing them migrate elsewhere. A low-carbon future means less people will be forced to go on arduous journeys to escape hardship caused by climate-induced natural disasters. Containing climate change helps protect those who are most at risk in humanitarian crises, in particular women, children and the elderly.

16,1 

million people were displaced within their country after being hit by weather-related disasters in 2018.

More than 16,1 million people had to leave their homes in 2018 to seek shelter from weather-related disasters such as severe heat waves, storms and floods.¹ If emissions continue to rise unabated, climate change and other environmental events could force further hundreds of millions of people to migrate on a temporary or permanent basis by 2050.² An increase of these catastrophes could be prevented if we stop carbon pollution and keep the earth from warming further. Unmitigated, however, climate change will greatly exacerbate the migration crisis which is already killing scores of refugees every year. Climate-induced migration, even if people do not cross international borders, has enormously negative consequences on people’s lives and livelihoods. It also brings the tragic irony of making them even more vulnerable to further impacts of climate change. For example, built on flood plains provides inadequate protection from extreme weather events or sea level rise.