Climate migration
Also called: Climate refugee, Environmental migrant · Topic: World Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Migration · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Climate migration is the movement of people driven by climate impacts such as sea-level rise, drought, floods or storms. Most of these people move within their own country. "Climate refugee" is a popular term, but it has no legal status. The 1951 Refugee Convention protects only people who fear persecution, not people fleeing climate impacts. The World Bank's Groundswell report (2021) projected up to 216 million internal climate migrants by 2050.
Example
In the low-lying Bangladesh delta, in South Asia, rising seas, salty water and cyclones are pushing people from coastal villages towards cities such as Dhaka.
Don't confuse with
- Refugee: a refugee has crossed an international border because of a well-founded fear of persecution, and has legal protection. A climate migrant has no such legal status.
Related concepts
- Migration
- Immigration
- Emigration
- Push and pull factors
- International migrant stock
- Refugee
- Internally displaced person