Last month, a report by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), revealed a shocking new statistic: 10.3 million people had been displaced due to climate change-induced events in just the last six months. A further 2.3 million more were displaced by conflict, indicating the vast majority of internal displacement is now triggered by climate change. Over 60% of those displaced were from countries in Asia that produced less than one percent of the total global CO2 emissions in 2019, further supporting climate justice calls that the countries least responsible for the climate crisis are amongst the most vulnerable to its consequences. 

Bangladesh, for example, produced only 0.29 percent of total global CO2 emissions in 2019 and has had 2.5 million people displaced related to climate change-induced events in the last six months. Coastal flooding is the primary driver of displacement, threatening 28 percent of Bangladesh's population who reside on the coast. By 2050 it is estimated that a tenth of land in Bangladesh will be underwater, and one in seven people displaced. Flooding also has a detrimental impact on farming, the mainstay of an already struggling economy, resulting in large crop losses and price reductions. 

Amongst countries least responsible for climate change, factors such as poverty, conflict, and political instability compound the effects of climate change-induced events. As documented in our recent report ,  the Climate Security Expert Network notes that 70 percent of the countries most vulnerable to climate change are also amongst the most fragile countries in the world, and twelve out of the twenty countries most vulnerable to climate change are in conflict. Pre-existing fragility exacerbates food and water insecurity, adverse health impacts, and economic inequalities, limit access to essential services, and “[weaken] the capacity of governments, institutions, and societies to provide support.”

The disproportionate effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on fragile countries gives us an idea of how pre-existing forms of fragility compound crises. Yemen had been in conflict for five years and had an already collapsing healthcare system when the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. Clare HaDuong, Medecins Sans Frontieres’s head of mission in Yemen reported in June of 2020, “COVID-19 has made that collapse complete, with many hospitals closing for fear of the virus, or for lack of staff and personal protective equipment.” 

Last May, we detailed in this SPOTLIGHT on Yemen how years of war and severe food shortages and a wave of diseases linked to heavy rains were on the rise, straining an already shattered healthcare system, which health experts warned would push the system to the brink of collapse with the coronavirus pandemic. Climate security experts count Yemen among countries that are at risk for increased conflict borne by climate change-fueled drought and water scarcity, made worse because the growing humanitarian needs strain the state’s ability to deal with the climate risks.

Climate change does not, and will not, affect people equally. As displacement due to climate change-induced events increase, the people least responsible for climate change and the most vulnerable to it, feel the effects  of compounding inequalities, and are by far, the most affected. (Reuters)