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Migrants deserve safety, dignity, equity, and justice
Around the world, climate change is intensifying extreme weather events and changing the land we live on. Scientists anticipate that as the planet continues to warm, more and more people will be forced to leave the places they call home. Given that nearly half of the world’s 2.2 billion children live in countries that are at extremely high risk for significant climate impacts, climate migration is an issue that has profound implications for the well-being of children and families.1
Facts about climate migration
- Every year, approximately 21.5 million people around the world are displaced from their homes by sudden-onset natural hazards like wildfires, floods, storms, and extreme heat. Many more are displaced by slow-moving hazards like drought and sea level rise.2
- People may also migrate for economic reasons related to climate change including crop failure, food insecurity, conflict, or limited financial prospects.
- 95% of climate displacement happens in developing countries, which have contributed the least to the climate crisis.3
- In 2020, nearly 10 million children were displaced due to weather-related events.4
- Estimates vary, but some researchers believe that by 2050, up to 216 million people around the world may be displaced within their countries by climate-driven catastrophes like rising sea levels, flooding, drought, wildfires, and damaging storms.5
- Depending on action taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, upwards of 10 million people may migrate from Central America and Mexico to the United States by 2050.6
Defining climate migration
There isn’t yet a universally accepted definition of climate migration. The UN International Organization for Migration describes climate migration as the movement of people or groups due to climate-related changes in the environment that force them to leave their homes and relocate within a country or across a border, either temporarily or permanently.7
While refugees fleeing political or social persecution are entitled to certain legal protections and special health care programs, people migrating for climate-related reasons may not have access to these services.8 Currently, there are no nations that offer legal asylum to climate migrants.9
Why do people migrate?
People migrate for a complex array of reasons.
Individuals and communities may be forcibly displaced, such as in the aftermath of a hurricane or devastating drought that has eroded food security and economic opportunity. In some cases, the relocation of a community may be planned to avoid further harm from severe risks, like inevitable sea level rise.10
Many people who migrate because of climate change do so within the borders of their own country, such as moving from rural to urban areas.11, 12
Sometimes, people who may be affected by severe climate disruptions may choose not to migrate in order to preserve community ties, or be unable to migrate because of poverty or militarized borders.
What are the health impacts of climate migration?
Climate migration affects physical and mental health in numerous ways. Many individuals have close emotional, physical, spiritual, financial, and community ties with their homelands, and leaving home can be deeply distressing. While migration is often undertaken as a last resort when the risks of staying in place would be higher than leaving, the process of migration itself can have significant health impacts. Some of the health risks associated with migration include:13, 14, 15
- Trauma from events that prompted the need for migration, such as disasters
- Risk of exposure to trauma and violence during the process of migration, particularly gender-based violence
- During migration, children may be at increased risk of exposure to maltreatment, including exploitation and abuse
- Risk of family separation
- Risk of malnutrition and nutrition-related illnesses, including increased vulnerability to infectious disease
- Loss of connection to community and place
- Loss of access to health care and education
- Loss of access to economic resources and the means to make a living
- Difficulty assimilating into new setting, especially when there are language barriers
- Lack of social supports and community in new setting
Learn more
Individuals and families displaced by climate change deserve to migrate with safety, dignity, and support for their well-being.
Join Moms Clean Air Force and EcoMadres to learn more about climate change and migration: www.momscleanairforce.org/ecomadres.
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Released: December 2022