Climate Change

Climate migration and displacement may be the story of our century. According to the Migration Policy Institute:

The impacts of climate change are being felt all over the world, and thus climate-related migration occurs globally. But the impacts are unequal, and the most severe migration and displacement is often occurring in low- and middle-income countries that have made little historical contribution to warming the planet. This is why displacement is often described as the “human face” of the losses and damages caused by climate change.

Yet even in high-income countries, climate change is already reshaping migration. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 3.2 million U.S. adults were displaced or evacuated due to natural disasters in 2022, of whom more than 500,000 had not returned by the beginning of 2023 (see Figure 2). The U.S. government has also begun to assist relocation of entire communities, including Native American villages and neighborhoods highly vulnerable to sea-level rise. Public concerns over future displacement are significant in high-income countries. In a 2019-20 European Investment Bank survey, 24 percent of Europeans (and 41 percent of young Europeans) thought they would have to move because of climate change. In the United States, 30 percent of respondents in a 2022 Forbes Home survey cited climate change as one reason why they might move. -- Migration Policy Institute, Climate Migration 101

Find recommended resources about climate migration below.

Climate change could force hundreds of millions to flee their homes in the coming years. What can countries do to prepare for this mass migration? From The Economist, 2023. (10:26 minutes)