Published 30th Apr, 2022

By Abdullah Tijani

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), an organisation working to secure a sustainable world, has called for an international legal framework to protect the right of people displaced by climate crisis.

According to the organisation’s 2021 Climate Refugee Report, over 21 million people are displaced by climate-related hazards each year since 2008.

“Since 2008, weather-related hazards – which are increasing in frequency and severity as a result of the climate crisis – have displaced over 21 million people each year on average, equivalent to 41 people every minute,” the report reads in part.

“Most of the world’s climate refugees come from vulnerable communities in lower-income countries, where environmental degradation and climate change intersects with and exacerbates other stressors such as poverty, oppression, and conflict.”

In the report, EJF defined climate refugees as “persons or groups of persons who, for reasons of sudden or progressive climate-related change in the environment that adversely affects their lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave their homes either temporarily or permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad”.q

It also revealed that most climate refugees come from conflict zones like Yemen, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

HOW CLIMATE CHANGE DISPLACED 21 MILLION EACH YEAR

The report used five cases of climate-related incidents that resulted in the Central American migration to the USA, Somali protracted displacement in Kenya, the climate vulnerability of India’s rural to urban migrants, wildlife displacement from the 2020 California fire season and the climate crisis in Europe.

While explaining the impact of the crisis in Central America, the report revealed the region, also known as the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras), is among the regions most exposed to global heating impacts such as droughts, storms, heatwaves and floods.

“The world Bank has estimated that anywhere from 1.4 to 3.9 million people could be displaced by climate crisis in Central America and Mexico alone,” the report reads.

Also, the climate breakdown and long-lasting conflict has caused many Somalis to crossed borders.

“Somalia has experienced more than 30 climate-related hazards, representing an increase of three times the number which occurred between 1970 and 1990,” the report says.

“As the planet continues to heat, climatic extremes will become more frequent, threatening livelihoods and human rights in Somalia and exacerbating patterns of conflict and displacement.”

As ‘climate refugees’ increase, EJF called for an international framework to provide protection for the displaced.

“Although the concept of common but differentiated responsibilities has been codified in international climate law, it is still lacking in the response to climate displacement,” EJF said.

“It is critical that any new framework for protecting climate refugees encompasses the full continuum of displacement experience, from acute, event-based displacement to more chronic push motivations, where climate-induced gradual degradation renders life increasingly difficult and thus forces communities to flee their homes.”

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