Anticipating Climate Change Migration
On Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued their report addressing the severity of climate change but and the irreversibility of the change. As reported in the Guardian, “This would be the sentence for these climate crimes, but it has yet to be passed down. The world can avoid the harshest punishment, but only just. Immediate repentance for the delays that have brought the world to the brink is required in the form of immediate and deep emissions cuts. The key aspect of the IPCC report is that the 42-page summary is agreed, line by line, by every government on the planet, with the scientists vetoing any politically convenient but unscientific proposal.” The report states that the raging forest fires and floods experienced all over the world are a “foretaste”.
A second report issued by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) anticipates actions our government can take to address the expected displacement caused by climate change and the world’s refusal to take timely action. The authors make recommendations to the Biden Administration, including the following:
Issue a Department of Justice (DOJ) opinion that clarifies that climate change can serve as grounds for refugee status under U.S. law.
• Issue policy guidance for immigration officers and judges to guide them in properly assessing climate-related asylum and refugee claims.
• Train immigration officers and judges to recognize climate change’s relationship to persecution.
• Develop further research on climate change in the context of asylum and refugee law through the Research Unit at Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations.
Both reports are chilling but necessary reads. It is time to get real in addressing the impact of climate change on populations. In addition to considering inter-American migration, the US needs to consider internal displacement as fires, droughts, and other disasters make areas of the country undesirable or unlivable.