In recognition that those displaced by climate change lack adequate protections under US immigration law, and that the US can and should play a key role in advancing climate justice, Senator Ed Markey (Mass.) and Representative Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) have reintroduced the Climate Displaced Persons Act (CDPA) in the US Senate and House of Representatives.
The legislation, if passed, would create a new resettlement pathway for individuals displaced by climate change to enter the US. It would also require the Secretary of State, in conjuction with USAID and the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, to develop a ‘Global Climate Resilience Strategy’ in order to guide US policy and programming.
Climate Refugees was pleased to support the development of the CDPA, and has joined numerous organizations in endorsing it, and encourages US voters to call upon their representatives in Congress - in both the Senate and the House - to support the passage of this important piece of legislation, which has the potential to provide urgently needed solutions for those displaced by climate change. Climate Refugees Founder & Executive Director Amali Tower provided the following statement concerning the reintroduction of the CDPA:
“As we have heard firsthand from affected populations, climate change is disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable and oppressed people on the planet, including forcibly displacing millions from their homes. Knowing its historic responsibilities, the United States has failed to provide adequate climate adaptation support to help people stay, while failing to adequately protect those at its own borders. Senator Markey’s leadership on the Climate Displaced Persons Act is a crucial and welcome opportunity for the US to demonstrate its commitment to regional and global partners on climate action and the protection of displaced persons when such cooperation is urgently needed”