Addressing the needs and protection of climate migrants is a matter of human rights, but according to a new study linking modern slavery and climate change, it might also hold massive potential in mitigating climate change. Astonishingly, modern slavery emits 2.54 billion tons of CO2 a year and over the past few years, increasing correlations have been made recognizing the nexus between climate change, migration and modern slavery. According to Anti-Slavery International, modern slavery can come in the form of human trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, forced prostitution and child labor among others, and now climate-induced migration is increasing migrants’ vulnerability to modern slavery.
In the case of climate change, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) points out, sudden onset disasters like floods and typhoons or slow onset impacts like rising sea levels and drought are resulting in displacement and ultimately migration. With rising climate change impacts, the line between displacement and migration, the latter generally regarded as voluntary, is increasingly blurring. Climate change intersections with inequality and marginalization is also driving movements across borders. As a result, those forced to migrate can become victims of exploitation and modern slavery.
In 2016 the International Organization for Migration (IOM) published a report where it identified drastic upticks of human trafficking following the displacement of populations as a result of climatic events. According to the report, there were cases of child trafficking in Indonesia following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, forced prostitution and hard labor in Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr in 2007, and high rates of human trafficking in the Philippines in relation to Typhoon Haiyan of 2013 among others.
There are an estimated 40.3 million people living in modern slavery around the globe, 71 percent of whom are female. Though there is no data on what percentage of those living in modern slavery were displaced as a result of climate change, correlations have been made recognizing that climate change acts as a stress multiplier to factors driving modern slavery.
Modern slavery is surprisingly not illegal in 94 countries around the world even though many of the activities slaveholders engage are widely prohibited. In that sense, slaveholders operate off the radar, often engaging in illegal activities like resource extraction, deforestation, manufacturing and illegal logging, all outside of international laws and environmental protections.
Here’s how protecting climate migrants and refugees can also have huge implications then in mitigating climate change. If modern slavery were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of CO2 in the world, coming in behind China (7.527 billion tons) and the United States (7.282 billion tons). Though only consisting of a fraction of the global population, modern slaves have a massive environmental impact and influence climate change through deforestation, land use change, resource extraction and pollutants.
“The link between slavery and environmental destruction and climate change has been shown to be circular, compelling, and calamitous. Climate change drives environmental outcomes that increase the risk of enslavement. Slaves are commonly forced into work highly destructive to the environment, which then increases the pressures on vulnerable populations.” — Kevin Bales & Benjamin K. Sovacool
Although climate change is increasing poverty, inequality and pushing people into situations of distress migration, within and across borders, governments focused on economic growth are failing to protect migrants’ rights and stamp out labor violations all over the world. The failure to recognize climate refugees, is also widening protection gaps and the loss of basic human rights for thousands globally.
Climate refugees and climate migrants are already being exploited and forced into various forms of modern slavery. Without adequate policy in place to recognize climate refugees and account for the threat of exploitation, this situation will only worsen, continuing a vicious cycle. Notwithstanding the moral argument, if high emitting nations need more reason to recognize and protect the rights of migrants and climate refugees, the potential for climate mitigation should justify investment.