Record 50.8 Million Internally Displaced, 5 Million from Natural Disasters in 2019
In its annual report, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) categorized the displacements as 45 million due to conflict and 5 million due to weather-related disasters. The past year marked a high of 33.4 million new displacements, the highest figure since 2012, with weather-related disasters accounting for 24.9 million new displacements and Asian countries and the United States recording the highest numbers. The displaced are now further threatened by the challenges posed by the Coronavirus, but even so, IDMC says the record numbers are indicative of collective global failure and calls on governments to solve long entrenched conflicts such as those in the DRC, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, which have displaced millions of people. They also suggest governments do more to tackle climate change and prepare for the real-life impacts they pose to displacement. Coronavirus cases are being tracked among displaced people in Iraq, where the first cases were confirmed, and in Syria, Burkina Faso and Colombia, all dealing with displacement crises and rising infection rates. (BBC)
COVID-19: Displaced Women and Girls at Heightened Risk of GBV
The UN Refugee Agency is warning of the extra risks the Coronavirus pandemic’s lockdowns and movement restrictions impose upon refugee, displaced and stateless women and girls who are significantly at higher risk to intimate partner or gender-based violence. They warn that some are trapped with their abusers, while others lack documentation or have suffered livelihood loss as a result of the pandemic and may be forced into survival sex or child marriages. Within families, many women are also taking on increased responsibilities and burdens as caregivers. Survivors of violence and those at risk are also impeded access to psycho-social support, health and security services, including safe shelters, which have been temporarily suspended or re-purposed due to pandemic response. In partnership with humanitarian actors, governments must ensure critical services for survivors are designated as essential and accessible to those forcibly displaced, as well as access to justice mechanisms for those survivors of gender-based violence. (Gulf News)
US Displacement in the Face of Climate Change
In the United States, 1.2 million people were displaced by climate-related disasters in 2018. Where people live is increasingly being driven by climate change, and that, along with economic disparity, showcase how discriminatory systems adversely affect low-income communities of color and further propel gentrification. Now enter the Covid-19 crisis, which threatens to further stress those existing disparities with the largest number of US renter households since 1965, who lacking recovery assistance, are especially vulnerable to a potential displacement crisis. With an aim to understanding the links between climate change and displacement, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) conducted a literature review of 384 materials since the 1970’s, which revealed historical inequities in American states that persist to this day. One example is coastal states, where housing continues to be built more rapidly in flood prone rather than low risk areas. When flood displacements do occur, neighboring areas are also impacted due to the housing shortages which can’t keep pace with the displacement influx. Further, many low-income communities indicate barriers to climate change actions such as lack of money, resources and clarity on viable options. NRDC maintains that the environment, housing, health, racial equity and economic opportunity are linked but underscored that displacement and gentrification are not necessarily inevitable in making American cities climate ready. (NRDC)
Employee Concerns for Climate Refugees Drives Google Carbon Reductions
Since 2018, Google has made efforts to match every unit of energy it consumes with a renewable source on a 24x7 basis. Even so, employees found these efforts insufficient in the face of Google’s decision to maintain contracts with fossil fuel companies. In an open letter to the company, employees called for a “four-zeros” objective: zero carbon emissions by 2030, zero contracts for fossil fuel companies that extract oil and gas, zero funding for climate denying organizations and zero harm to climate refugees. Now, presumably in response, Google is working on a “carbon intelligent computing platform” already deployed to its data centers to shift non-urgent workloads to times of day when wind and solar energy sources are plentiful and thus, can be utilized. The company hopes it can ultimately be declared “24x7 carbon-free energy” in all its data centers, which it is almost close to achieving in Hamina, Finland. (ZDNET)
Note: Title of article changed by Climate Refugees to highlight relevance to climate displacement