Climate change is one of the main drivers of migration and will have a more significant role in the displacement of people than armed conflicts, which today cause major refugee crises.
Ovais Sarmad, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
“One example I use is that recently there was migration of refugees and migrants in Europe because of the Syrian conflict and other conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. That is a big political issue. But the climate change impact will make one million look like a small number. Because a hundred or four hundred million people live in developing countries in low-lying areas, in cities which are very close to the sea. If sea level rises, then people will have to move.”
Sarmad told IPS, “This movement won’t be just national; people will be moving to other countries. One of the examples is Kiribati, a small island in the Pacific with 100,000 people, that will disappear in a few years time. What will happen with this population?” He continued," In many countries around the world, farmers are the most affected by droughts and they will move. With their cattle, with their children or whatever… And then… they won’t have many places to go. We have only one planet and they can’t go to space,” said the expert.
Ovais Sarmad, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
“One example I use is that recently there was migration of refugees and migrants in Europe because of the Syrian conflict and other conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. That is a big political issue. But the climate change impact will make one million look like a small number. Because a hundred or four hundred million people live in developing countries in low-lying areas, in cities which are very close to the sea. If sea level rises, then people will have to move.”
Sarmad told IPS, “This movement won’t be just national; people will be moving to other countries. One of the examples is Kiribati, a small island in the Pacific with 100,000 people, that will disappear in a few years time. What will happen with this population?” He continued," In many countries around the world, farmers are the most affected by droughts and they will move. With their cattle, with their children or whatever… And then… they won’t have many places to go. We have only one planet and they can’t go to space,” said the expert.
In that sense, he considered that the world should be “supportive” and “not close the doors” to those who are displaced due to extreme weather events.
Sarmad said that, despite the international community’s efforts to combat climate change, there was an increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, after a decrease in the previous three years. The reason, he said, has been an increase in the consumption of fossil fuels.
Youba Sokona from Mali, an environmental expert and the vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Sokona said that although the cost of renewable energies has gone down in recent years, fossils fuels are still cheaper.
“The cost of renewable energies is not only expensive for developing countries. Even Germany, when it decided to put a brake on nuclear energy, had to turn to coal,” said Sokona, "We must take action because there’s much suffering around the world because of climate change, that affects especially women and children, the most vulnerable populations. There’s no other issue at an international level, besides security and nuclear proliferation, more important than climate change.”
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