Climate Refugees applauds President Biden’s Executive Order on US refugee resettlement that includes early actions to address climate migration. By committing to an inter-agency report on examining the impacts of climate change on migration and “options for protection and resettlement of individuals displaced directly or indirectly from climate change,” President Biden has shown vision and bold leadership, vital to protect displaced people in a changed climate that has not kept pace with our global system.
Every day vulnerable people are forcibly displaced due to impacts generated by climate change. This is not something that will happen, this is something happening now.
Several successive years have recorded more internal displacement resulting from climate-related disasters than conflict. In 2019, of the 33.4 million new displacements, 24.9 million were as a result of disasters.
For many others who are dependent on the land and natural resources for livelihood, the effects of slow-onset climate change have been disastrous for survival. These slow climate changes are intricately linked to economics and politics, which means this is by no means merely an environmental issue. This is a human rights issue.
Having served people whose lives have been upended by conflict, including through the US Refugee Admissions Program, I founded Climate Refugees in 2015 after hearing stories from refugees fleeing multiple drivers, who sometimes referred to years of environmental devastation more or equally than to the entrenched conflict at home.
Since then, we at Climate Refugees have dedicated our lives to documenting these stories - from the field, from the news, from the impacted communities - because these are the voices that fill the gaps in information, and ultimately, understanding.