Photo credit: Matiullah Achakzai/European Pressphoto Agency

This is a great blog post I found on The Hill’s Congress Blog. It is by Alice Thomas, Climate Displacement Programme Manager for Refugees International, and encapsulates the Pakistan crisis with a climate change and migration viewpoint.

(The Hill’s Congress Blog) August 18, 2010 – The devastating floods in Pakistan have claimed the lives of at least 1,500 people and rendered millions more homeless and displaced.  According to the United Nations, the deluge’s human toll, which has reportedly affected 14 million Pakistanis, is worse than the 2004 tsunami, the January earthquake in Haiti, and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan combined.  The record-breaking floods – along with other recent unprecedented climate-related catastrophes such as the heat wave in Russia and torrential rains and subsequent mudslides in China – are in line with the predictions of climate scientists that global warming will cause an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

According to climate vulnerability indices, Pakistan is one of the world’s most at-risk countries due not only to its exposure to climate-related hazards such as flooding and droughts, but also its human vulnerability in terms of the capacity of individuals, communities, and societies to effectively respond to such hazards based on a combination of natural, human, social, financial and physical factors.

Yet getting the public and policy makers to see the Pakistan floods and other recent disasters not only as a portent of things to come but also as an indication that climate change is already occurring is likely to prove challenging. This is due in part to the inability of scientists to prove that any one storm, drought or flood was caused by global warming, as opposed to a variety of other factors that affect weather.  Thus, while meteorological data show that the number of extreme weather events has tripled since the 1980s, and that 2010 is on track to be the warmest since reliable records began in the mid-19th century, there is a hesitancy to discuss the recent catastrophes in the broader context of the implications of climate change.

What is clear is that the United States will be making a mistake of tremendous proportions if it waits for scientific certainty with respect to climate change before developing a coherent response. Rather, the important message we must take from these catastrophes is that climate change will likely place increasing pressure on a humanitarian system that is already stressed and woefully underfunded. Moreover, the United States is not investing nearly enough to help at-risk and vulnerable countries prepare for future natural hazards that are likely to increase with frequency and intensity in years to come.

For example, in 2009, less than ten percent USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) budget, or approximately $86.7 million, was devoted to disaster risk reduction activities worldwide.  The UN is now estimating that at least $460 million – more than 5 times that amount – is needed to respond to the immediate humanitarian crisis in Pakistan alone. Ramping up the amount of money we spend to help vulnerable populations prepare for disasters before they strike will result in substantial savings over the long term – both financial and in terms of loss of human life.

At the same time, we need to be investing more to help fragile populations adapt to climate change by building their resiliency to its anticipated adverse effects and promoting livelihoods that can endure those impacts.  While the President’s request for nearly $334 million for international climate adaptation in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget is a step in the right direction, it falls far short of what is needed.

Helping the most fragile and vulnerable states, like Pakistan, prepare for the anticipated impacts of climate change also represents an important contribution to increased political stability. In Pakistan, militant offensives in the northwest region have displaced more than a million Pakistanis within their own borders, in addition to approximately two million Afghans who are seeking refuge there.  The flooding, which has affected many of these same areas, has displaced millions more.

Helping to build the resiliency of Pakistanis to climate change impacts including flooding, droughts and water scarcity would go a long way towards decreasing political instability in the region, and more importantly, minimizing human suffering and loss of life.

Source: The Hill’s Congress Blog

Seasonal winds, storms and high tides combine to submerge the tiny islands, crowded with huts of yellow cane and faded palm fronds, leaving them ankle-deep in emerald water for days on end.

Pablo Preciado, leader of the island of Carti Sugdub, remembers that in his childhood floods were rare, brief and barely wetted his toes. “Now it’s something else. It’s serious,” he said.

The increase of a few inches in flood depth is consistent with a global sea level rise over Preciado’s 64 years of life and has been made worse by coral mining by the islanders that reduced a buffer against the waves.

Carti Sugdub is one of a handful of islands in an archipelago off Panama’s northeastern coast, where the government says climate change threatens the livelihood of nearly half of the 32,000 semi-autonomous Kuna people.

The 2,000 inhabitants of Carti Sugdub plan to move to coastal areas within the Kuna’s autonomous territory on the Panama mainland. They are eyeing foothills a half-hour walk from the swampy beach areas.

“The water level is rising. The move is imminent,” said Preciado, who has been leading a group of villagers clearing tropical forest for the new settlement.

World leaders have failed so far to reach a global accord to curb the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change. A U.N. climate change conference later this year in Mexico aims to make progress toward a binding agreement.

If the islanders abandon their homes as planned, the exodus will be one of the first blamed on rising sea levels and global warming.

Scientists warn that sea level rise in the next century could threaten millions with a similar fate and some communities as far apart as Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Fiji have already been forced to relocate

“This is no longer about a scientist saying that climate change and the change in sea level will flood (a people) and affect them,” said Hector Guzman, a marine biologist and coral specialist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. “This is happening now in the real world.”

Climate Change Refugees

The fiercely independent Kuna, famed for rebellions against Spanish conquistadors, French pirates and Panamanian overlords, have accelerated their fate by mining coral, which they use to expand islands and build artificial islets and breakwaters.

Guzman, based at a Pacific island research center on the edge of Panama City, has warned of the risks of coral mining for a decade but says speaking out against a legally permitted traditional activity is “taboo.”

“(The Kuna) have increased their vulnerability to storms, wave action, and above all, the action of the rise in sea level,” he told Reuters.

When Kuna speak in their native language the Spanish words for “climate change” are often among the few foreign words used. While some elders warn that sea level rise will get worse, many locals believe God will keep them safe.

“I don’t know where they get that from — that the land is going to sink and we’d better leave before it happens … Those who want to go, can go. I’m staying here,” said Evangelina, 60, who would not give her last name because she hasn’t told local leadership she’s opposed to moving.

Sea levels rose about 17 cm (about 7 inches) over the last century and experts say the rate is accelerating. In 2007, the United Nations predicted a rise of 18 to 59 cm (7-23 inches) by 2100 but that did not include the accelerated melting of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that seas could rise 2 meters (6.5 feet) by the end of the century, threatening millions of people in cities from Tokyo and Shanghai to New Orleans.

“It’s something you’re going to be seeing more and more,” said Albert Binger, the scientific adviser to the 42-member Alliance of Small Island States, referring to potential victims as “climate change refugees.”

Binger said the Kuna’s coral extraction is a portent for what climate change has in store for other low-lying islands protected by reefs. The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide makes oceans more acidic, killing coral struggling to survive in warmer seas.

Slow Move

While Kuna leaders say their move from cool breezy islands to stuffy forests is imminent, progress has been slow so far and the government does not have a support plan in place.

Carti Sugdub’s islanders have used machetes to carve out a patch of tropical forest but lack machinery to clear the land.

Leaders at nearby Carti Mulatupu are working on an environmental impact study for their move. They reckon setting up a mainland community for 600 people could cost $5 million.

The Panamanian government, which supports the islanders financially by paying for health clinics, schools and poverty programs, has done little to support the relocation plans but officials back the idea.

“Sometimes the community is flooded up to the knees,” said Helen Perez, the schoolmaster at Carti Mulatupu, as his 120 students ran around a sandy school yard by an eroded concrete pier. “The community has taken the decision to move to land.”

Chani Morris, an 82-year-old fisherman, is ready to abandon the islet of Coibita he helped build out of coral 33 years ago. He said he doesn’t sleep well since a flood engulfed the island, destroyed huts and carried away dugout canoes.

“The sea is very bothersome, sometimes it scares me at night,” said Morris, as he fashioned fish traps out of chicken wire. “I’m just waiting for the others to decide when we can move and I’m going to go with them.”

Source: Reuters

Location of the community of Igarape do Costa. Photo credit: WWF-Brazil

The World Wildlife Fund established the Climate Prep blog to “define climate change adaptation through illustrations of on the ground adaptation projects and scientific adaptation studies, explorations of adaptation concepts, and tracking firsthand the progress of adaptation in the international policy arena.”

This is especially pertinent to the field of climate change-induced migration, as the more preventative measures are taken the less impact climate change should have on migration. A great illustration of the climate’s impact on migration can already be seen in Brazil, where the recent blog post “Building Climate Adaptation Capacity in Amazon Floodplain Communities” claims “many people are migrating in the Santarém region from lake to lake in search of fish.” The post from Climate Prep is cross-posted below.

(Climate Prep) February 12, 2010 – Located in the lower Amazon floodplain of Brazil, the Santarém region harbors important fisheries that many people depend on for employment, food security, government tax revenues, and items to export to both domestic and foreign markets. Climate change is creating difficulties, but not without hope and new opportunities as well.

These fisheries and the services that they provide are known to be sensitive to shifts in the climate. Precipitation patterns are shifting in the Santarém region, with the amount of annual rainfall generally decreasing and floods and droughts becoming more common. Livelihoods for most people around these lakes combine farming and fishing, both of which will be negatively affected by a reduction in rainfall. Less rain will have an especially big impact on the local economy through the quantity of fish that are locally harvested. If regional climate forecasts are accurate, rural livelihoods in lakeshore regions will become increasingly precarious over time.

Because of these shifts in climate, many people are migrating in the Santarém region from lake to lake in search of fish. And more people are even moving from rural regions to cities and other areas of greater economic opportunity. The rate people leave their traditional homes will probably increase as rainfall becomes increasingly variable.

Conflicts also arise over the governance of floodplain resources that so many individuals around Santarém depend on. The issue of how to determine rights to resources in lakes and rivers throughout the region is increasingly contentious.  Should they be monitored and regulated by the state control, or should communities decide how and when fish are harvested? Or should all of these decisions be settled by individuals? So far, neither the state nor the market has been uniformly successful in solving common-pool resource problems. While access to certain “subsistence lakes” is restricted to rural, local communities, the establishment of formal regulation of open-access resources such as fisheries may be an important means to avoid over-exploitation and the resulting degradation of the resource base, in the same way that many harvests of wild species are regulated through hunting or fishing permits globally.

The community of Igarapé do Costa is located on a low sandbank, surrounded by three floodplain lakes called Pacoval, Aramanaí, and Itarim (Figure 1). About 90 families depend on fishing, small gardens and farms, and cattle ranching. Of these, fishing is the main productive activity for 94% of families (Figure 2). During the rainy season, the sandbank is covered by the waters of the Pacoval and Aramanaí lakes, linking the Amazon river and the community. But during the dry season the community is cut off by a massive sandbank and the lakes shrink in size, leaving them 5 km (3 miles) from the mainstream of the river, which is their source of water, transportation, and sustenance. The decreasing amounts of rainfall — especially during drought years — mean that the periods when these communities are separated from the mainstream of the river are getting longer.

The lives of the people of Igarapé do Costa are typical of many people in the Amazon floodplain, especially those located in low sandbanks, far from upland on the banks of river. The key aspect of the Amazon that has determined the ways of life for these communities is the dependable flood pulse that comes every year. Like a clock, it helps regulate the fish species of the Amazon, and the fish regulate the traditional livelihoods and economy for millions of people.

Changes in the rain result in changes in the flood pulse, which alters seasonal fishmovement between the river’s mainstem and the surrounding lakes and wetlands and disrupts the livelihoods of the people. These characteristics make the record of the environmental aspects of climate change and responses of the community´s floodplain a critical element for social environmental sustainability in the region in the coming decades. The implementation of the Climate Witness Project in the community of Igarapé do Costa gives an important contribution to the generation of knowledge.

In my future entries I will present results of the Climate Witness Project that has been implemented in the community of Igarapé do Costa and Santarém region. My analysis considers the study of environmental and social adaptations to climate change at the local level in light of the inherent variability of floodplain ecosystems and the community’s capacity for adaptation.

Source: Climate Prep

Where and how: Mass scale forced displacement has been caused by tidal floods in the exposed coastal area and loss of land due to erosion in the main land river basins

The population living in South and South-East Asia on the coastline extending from the east coast of India to Myanmar have been buffeting by annual cyclones from the Bay of Bengal and ever increasing tidal floods. Due to its extensive coastal geography, Bangladesh is undoubtedly one of the most affected countries. Cyclones not only result in human casualties and destruction of property, but also leave behind perpetual tidal floods. Notably, over the last few years deadly cyclones have been commonplace: Cyclone Sidr of 2007, Nargis of 2008, Aila of 2009, and Laila of 2010. Bangladesh was hit directly by Sidr while Nargis, Aila, and Laila also wreaked havoc in Myanmar and India, respectively. Research in Dakshin Bedkashi (Koyra Upazila) reveals that the tidal flood water level has risen by 1 meter over 5 years (2004 to 2008) and it rose by an additional meter in 2009 and in 2010 it continues to rise further. Twelve coastal districts in the south of Bangladesh are particularly at risk: Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Laxmipur, Feni, Noakhali, Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar.

Around one million people have been rendered homeless due to river erosion in the mainland river basins over the last three decades, as the Brahmaputra-Jamuna continues to widen because of obstruction from upstream sediment and poor downstream erosion management. Official statistics show that the Brahmaputra-Jamuna, a major river system in Bangladesh, has widened by 11.8 km and from 8.3 km in the early ’70s, eroding about 87,790 hectares of land. (CEGIS, 2006). NGOs affiliated with ACR working in the mainland river basin report observing people forced to flee their traditional place of residence due to increasing river erosion. Ten districts are hotspots, namely Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogra, Sirajganj, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Mymensingh, and Netrakona.

Bangladesh is comprised of 64 districts, out of which 22 are at risk of climate-induced displacement.

Who and how many: The poorer people who used to live in exposed locations are the climate refugees and they are 6 million in number

The poorest people who live in the extremely exposed locations in the coastal belt and the mainland river basins of Bangladesh will be the first to become climate refugees in upcoming years.

Tidal floods have already badly affected 56% of the 422 unions (lowest unit in the local government) of the 48 upazilas (sub-districts) in the exposed coastal zone of Bangladesh. Most of the villages in the badly affected 236 unions are flooded by tidal saline water twice a day over the last 3 years. The Houses, Land, and Properties (HLP) of 2,462,789 people (32%) of 7,693,331 inhabitants (in the affected unions alone) have been destroyed by repeated cyclones and rising tides. Of them, 1,568,980 (64%) are languishing as Local Climate Refugees (LCR) on remaining embankments or higher ground in exposed zones; 675,113 (27%) are squatters, or Internal Climate Refugees (ICR), in cities including Dhaka; and 218,656 (9%) are have crossed international borders, as Global Climate Refugees (GCR), in order to earn an income. The situation on the exposed coast is worsening and it is predicted that the number of climate refugees will increase to 3 million people by the end of 2010.

River bank erosions have already badly affected 44% of the 407 unions (lowest unit in the local government) of the 36 upazilas (sub-districts) in the exposed mainland river basins of Bangladesh. Most of the villages in the badly affected 179 unions are being eroded by flash flood waters every year over the last 3 decades. Houses, Land, and Properties (HLP) of 1,452,588 people (42%) of the 3,490,500 inhabitants (in the affected unions alone) have been destroyed by annual river erosion often coupled with devastating floods. Of them, 951,531 (66%) are languishing as Local Climate Refugees (LCR) on neighboring embankments or higher ground in exposed zones; 375,793 (26%) are urban squatters, or Internal Climate Refugees (ICR), in internal cities, like Dhaka; 125,264 (8%) have crossed international borders and are Global Climate Refugees (GCR). The situation in the river basin is worsening and it is predicted that the number of climate refugees from the river basin will increase to 2 million by the end of 2010.

The remaining 397 upazilas, which are not dangerously exposed on the coastline, still are at sea-level and will perhaps generate another 2.1 million climate refugees. Thus, the total number of climate refugees in Bangladesh as of May 2010 stands at 6 million, out of which at least 1 million are living in Dhaka. The total number of climate refugees in Bangladesh is expected to increase to 7.5 million by the end of 2010.

Hotspots of climate refugees at the point of origin: Island upazilas of Koyra, Shyamnagar and Dacope in the west, and Kutubdia, Hatiya and Swandip in the east of the coastal belt of Bangladesh

In one way or another, all exposed upazilas are generating climate refugees, but some are more immediately and particularly exposed. The middle coast (Barisal Division) enjoys the comparative advantage of being an active delta with land formation in progress as well as a freshwater ecosystem, but the west (Khulna Division) and east (Chittagong Division) coast have been unlawfully deprived of that active delta privilege by India’s unilateral interception in the river course originating from the Himalayas. Hence the west coast has 3 hotspots i.e. Koyra and Dacope in Khulna district, and Shyamnagar in Satkhira district. The east coast also has 3 hotspots i.e. Kutubdia in Cox’s Bazar district, Swandip in Chittagong district and Hatiya in Noakhali district.

Response to the plight of the Climate Refugees

The Finance Minister of Bangladesh Government has said, “We are asking all our development partners to honour the natural right of persons to migrate. We can’t accommodate all these people – this is already the densest [populated] country in the world,” in a video interview with the Guardian. Repeated cyclones and tidal floods have substantially destroyed the life line of coastal dwellers.

More than 200 NGOs in Bangladesh are working for the resettlement of the climate refugees. They have participated, as a finalist, in the World Bank’s Global Competition on Climate Adaptation held on 10-13 November 2009 in Washington, D.C. but could not win a grant. However, the World Bank ’s Innovation Practice Manager wrote “We are indeed working on a range of ideas in which we can communicate with your host governments, other funders in the space, and like-minded partners who can support your projects and perhaps find ways to work with you” in a post of the NGOs’ Team Leader in World Bank’s DM Blog. NGOs are continuing to negotiate projects with potential donors on climate refugee issues.

Conclusion

Climate change is likely to lead to increase the number of climate refugees, and it is vital that evolving frameworks for climate change adaptation address this issue so that national and international communities can peacefully resettle climate refugees. Climate change ignores country borders making it a global problem; however, we cannot ignore country borders and have to begin to work regionally and globally for mutual benefits and interests. We welcome suggestions and assistance for effective and efficient resettlement of climate refugees.

*This article refers to climate-induced migrants as “refugees,” but Towards Recognition is of the stance that such a designation muddies the traditional definition of the term and could lead to weakened legal protection.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Displacement Solutions, but has been edited for Towards Recognition by Kayly Ober.

Mahe Noor left her village in southern Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr flattened her family’s home and small market in 2007. Jobless and homeless, she and her husband, Nizam Hawladar, moved to this crowded megalopolis, hoping that they might soon return home.

Two years later, they are still here. Ms. Noor, 25, and Mr. Hawladar, 35, work long hours at low-paying jobs—she at a garment factory and he at a roadside tea stall. They are unable to save money after paying for food and rent on their dark shanty in Korail, one of the largest slums in Dhaka. And in their village, more people are leaving because of river erosion and dwindling job opportunities.

“We’re trapped,” Ms. Noor said.

In the past, many analysts argued that climate-driven migration would lead to tens of millions of “climate refugees” pouring into wealthy countries. Droughts in North Africa, say, would push people into Europe. (This explains why some European anti-immigration groups have adopted green rhetoric.) But more recent research suggests that most of the migration will take place within developing countries—from rural areas to cities. And the main worry here is that these cities are already swelling exponentially, and their infrastructure can barely keep up, which is why many “megacities” sport massive slums.

Now, the tricky part is tying these trends to climate change. After all, severe storms and droughts are nothing new. Nor is internal migration. People in developing countries have been flocking to cities for a long time, whether it’s to seek out work or because the rainfall’s dried up or because the soil’s eroded away. We can say that global warming will exacerbate these pressures and greatly increase the pace of migration, but it’s hard to attribute any single event—or single migrant—to man-made climate change. (Virtually no scientist will say that Cyclone Sidr was caused by global warming, though many will agree that this type of event will become more frequent as the oceans heat up.)

This seems like hairsplitting, but it could become a major issue. One of the few concrete items that came out of Copenhagen was a pledge by rich countries to set up a $100 billion annual climate fund by 2020 (with smaller amounts of climate aid dribbling in earlier). Some of this money is supposed to help poor countries adapt to a warmer world. But how do you distinguish between people displaced specifically by climate change and those migrating for other reasons? The difficulty in sorting out causes is one reason why forecasts of “climate refugees” vary so wildly, from 200 million by 2050 to one billion by 2050.

So climate-driven migration is a real concern, but it’s worth being precise about the concept. Geoff Dabelko, who directs the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center, had a smart post back in 2007 urging environmentalists to be careful when using the term “climate refugee” (the word “refugee” is particularly problematic, since it has a precise legal definition and invokes certain responsibilities by governments). Otherwise, the problem just gets harder to solve.

Source: The New Republic

(Al Jazeera) October 10, 2009 – In the middle of the world’s largest delta, an island is disappearing.

Bhola Island is the “ground zero” of climate change, and home to what have been called the world’s first climate refugees.

Bangladesh’s largest island is located where one of the country’s mightiest rivers, the Meghna, meets the Indian ocean at the Bay of Bengal.

Caught between rising sea levels and the increased water pressure of the river, which has its source in the melting Himalayan glaciers, the island is rapidly being eroded.

Rezaul Chowdhury from the Coastal Association for Social Transformation Trust (Coast) explains: “Every second, this river carries one million cubic feet of water down through the Meghna and around Bhola island.

“All of the siltation gathered by the waters in South Asia meet in the Bay of Bengal, along Bhola island, creating the highest amount of river erosion in Bangladesh.”

International scientists count Bangladesh as one of the countries worst hit by climate change.

The country loses an estimated 100 square kilometres of land to river erosion ever year, and nowhere is the situation more dire than on Bhola.

Thousands homeless

Since 1995, half of the island has succumbed to erosion caused by heavier waters and rising sea levels.

Half of the island’s population has been forced to relocate their homes, many fleeing to the teeming slums of Dhaka.

For those who have stayed, life has become increasingly difficult as they watch their land being eaten away by the waters.

Of the land that remains, the invading sea water has swallowed vast areas of rice fields, making food insecurity a great threat to the increasingly cramped 1.5 million inhabitants of the island.

According to Quazi Ahmad, who represented Bangladesh at the 2007 intergovernmental panel on climate change, the entire coastal region has been adversely affected.

“As climate change intensifies, part of the coastal area will be inundated with salt water, and therefore we will lose agricultural land. If action is not taken to reverse the effects of climate change, up to 30 per cent of agricultural productivity may be lost in South Asia.”

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries on earth, and food security is already precarious.

In Bhola, the situation is already severe enough to demand a serious response. In order to tackle the food shortage, the Bangladesh government is distributing food to villagers who have lost their rice fields to climate change.

Many who have lost their fields have also lost their homes. Those who live along the island’s coastline are particularly vulnerable, and many have been forced to move home several times.

At this rate, it is estimated that in a matter of decades the island could be lost entirely.

Chowdhury predicts: “In 30, 40, 50 years, there will be no Bhola Island.”

If the trend is not reversed, islanders here will join climate refugees from other parts of the country, creating even great pressures on the country’s teeming cities.

‘River gypsies’ threatened

Not only is global warming affecting those on land but it is also affecting those on the water.

The Bedeys, known as river gypsies in Bangladesh, are a unique group of people who spend the majority of each year navigating houseboats on the country’s 700 rivers, estuaries and canals.

Shah Jahan is one of the thousands of river gypsies that live on the waterways surrounding this island.

Over the past decade, the river he calls home has become unpredictable. Erratic rivers and unpredictable monsoons have forced him to reconsider his nomadic lifestyle.

Speaking from the cozy confines of his houseboat, he says: “I go where the river takes me, but the waters have become too dangerous for my children, it’s difficult to fish, many of our people have drowned, I don’t want my children to share this same fate.”

Many river gypsies who frequent the waters around Bhola Island are now abandoning their houseboats to carve out a space for themselves on land.

A small and distinctive group, there are only 800,000 river gypsies in Bangladesh, and their numbers are dwindling. In the past decade alone, 250,000 have abandoned their traditional way of life.

With a sense of impending doom, Bangladeshis are adamant that something must be done to reverse the climate change which threatens to swallow the country’s islands and shoreline, irrevocably changing the lives of the millions who have their homes there.

Source: Al Jazeera

Natural disasters displaced more people than conflicts in 2008. Photo credit: IRIN

(IRIN) September 23, 2009 – Climate related natural disasters like droughts, hurricanes and floods forced 20 million people – slightly less than the population of Australia – out of their homes in 2008 alone said a new study, making a strong case for regularly monitoring displacement in the context of climate change.

A total of 36 million people were displaced worldwide by sudden-onset natural disasters, including earthquakes and landslides. During the same period 4.6 million people were internally displaced by conflicts.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre jointly conducted the study, Monitoring Disaster Displacement in the Context of Climate Change.

“Had it not been for the Sichuan earthquake in China, which displaced 15 million people, climate related disasters would have been responsible for over 90 percent of disaster related displacement in 2008,” the study commented.

Using the 2008 data as a test case, the study proposed the ongoing monitoring of disaster related displacement using existing information, such as the Emergency Events Database produced by the Belgium-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, cross-referenced with various other sources, and individually investigating events to estimate the numbers of persons displaced.

The next step is further research into displacement caused by slow-onset disasters and sea level rise. The study also called for a legal framework to protect people forced to cross a border by a natural disaster.

Source: IRIN

Ciara Sutton is a multimedia broadcast journalist who worked on climate change migration issues in Kenya earlier this year as part of a project for her MA in International Journalism. The project is supported by interviews with international climate change professionals and representatives on the ground from the Red Cross. She authors her own blog “Climate Change and Human Migration in Kenya” where she documented her journey, examines the lives of migrants, and posts related stories.

Below is a recent video from her website which highlights the issue of climate-induced rural to urban migration in Kenya:

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Source: Climate Change and Human Migration in Kenya

Related Links:
» Devastating East Africa Droughts Caused by Volatile Climate – VOA News – (Sep, 2009)
» A new (under) class of travellers – The Economist (Jun, 2009)
» Climate Change and Migration in Nairobi – UNHABITAT & Columbia University (Jun, 2009)

Photo credit: DFID

(DFID) July 13, 2009 – The UK is today launching a major action plan to protect 15 million of the world’s poorest people from the devastating impact of climate change in some of most high-risk flood areas on the planet.

A fifth of Bangladesh – an area almost twice the size of London – could disappear if seas levels rise by one metre. This would destroy crops and livestock, spread disease and leave 30 million people homeless.

Experts predict that devastating natural disasters seen in the last three years such Cyclone Sidr and Tropical Storm Aila – which saw millions lose their homes and thousands killed – will become more frequent in the future.

The UK’s country plan will protect people’s lives and livelihoods against more frequent natural disasters and provide practical support to help them adapt for the impact of climate change. The £75m plan will include:

- Raised housing. Homes in high-risk areas will be raised off the ground to protect millions of families from flash floods, ensuring their property is not simply washed away.

- ‘Flood-friendly’ crops. New crops that are resilient to floods and changes in climate will be introduced to help farmers produce enough food to feed themselves and their families in the toughest circumstances.

- National early warning system. State of the art cyclone forecasting will be set up to ensure people have time to prepare before disasters strike, with alerts sent to villages and towns across the country.

- Infrastructure investment. Renovation of embankments and roads damaged by floods to ensure key transport routes are kept open to allow life-saving supplies to reach even the most remote areas.

- Storm shelters. Thousands of multi-purpose ‘survival’ shelters will be built and equipped to offer men, women and children somewhere to go when cyclones hit.

- Disaster management programme. International experts will be sent to work with the Bangladeshi Government to train and mentor a national disaster team and establish a country-wide emergency plan.

The UK has already committed £50 million to support the ‘Chars Livelihood Programme’, which will help one million people who live on river islands in the Jamuna River raise their homes above the flood level. Our work has already helped more than 300,000 raise their homes and has provided livestock, seeds and other items to almost 50,000 families in this low-lying, flood-prone area.

Mike Foster, International Development Minister said:

“People in villages across Bangladesh are living on the frontline of climate change, with floods and cyclones increasingly a threat to every day life.

“That is why we must take action to deal with what is a very real and immediate danger to the survival of millions men, women and children.

“Many of these people are living in extreme poverty and cannot afford even the most basic of protection. In just a minute, their homes, crops and belongings could simply be washed away, driving them further into poverty.

“Our plan will help break this devastating cycle and prepare people to survive future disasters. We want to give people the tools and skills they need to grow their way out of poverty and build a sustainable future.”

The action on climate change is part of a new Bangladeshi plan that sets out the Department for International Development strategy to build a more stable and prosperous country and bring more than 6 million people out of extreme poverty.

Other key areas in the plan include:

- Increase employment opportunities and incomes for the poorest by giving 70,000 men and women through vocational and English language training;

- Improve conditions for garment and textile employees by working with six major multinational companies to improve conditions and ensure their suppliers have to set decent working and environmental practices;

- Give 4 million children access to five years of primary education. We will also provide £2 million for education programmes to address a funding shortfall that would have resulted in 100,000 pre-primary and primary age children not going to school this year;

- Make sure 4 million pregnant women are looked after by trained midwives. Improve neonatal and maternal health. Our Urban Primary Health Care Programme has already given 400,000 urban poor women access to antenatal care and more than 72,000 deliveries to be conducted safely, with skilled birth attendants;

- Help the Government register 5 million more taxpayers to build robust Government revenues to pay for basic services like health and education.

Source: DFID

Photo credit: Munem Wasif / Agence VU

[Agence VU] In the last 10 years, farmers like Hatem Ali have had to disassemble and move their tin-and-bamboo houses five times to escape the encroaching waters of the huge Brahmaputra River in Kurigram. This river is swollen out of all proportion by severe monsoon that scientists attribute to global warming and melting ice in the Himalayas. Bangladesh with a population of 140 million people crammed into an area slightly smaller than the state of Illinois is a target of the most vulnerable to global warming.

Some must live with the memory of losing grip on their child when he is swept away by tidal waves at angry awakening of Sidr. Some may still view their lost crops swaying in the fields and today empty, while others have traces of dried tears on their cheeks when they remember their own piece of land swallowed by the fury of the river. Once, villagers happy, they have became climate refugees.

Munem Wasif is a documentary photographer born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1983. A graduate of Pathshala, the South Asian Institute of Photography, Wasif started his journalistic career as a feature photographer for the Daily Star, a leading English daily in Bangladesh. Now he is represented by Agence VU. In this photoset Wasif has put together a series of photographs which aim to tell stories of people who have lost their livelihood and way of living due to the ever growing issue of climate change.

Click here to view the slide show »

Source: Agence VU