A large share of climate-induced migration involves people moving from relatively rural areas to urban areas, often within a given country or region. While cities around the world are faced with this trend, many ‘urban hot spots’ of migration will occur in rapidly expanding cities in so-called developing countries, dubbed “fragile cities” by urban development expert Robert Muggah. These cities are characterized by their limited capacity to prepare, including existing issues of inequality, lack of access to services, and already facing direct threats as a result of climate change such as storm surge risk. For example, many African cities facing increasing climate migration are among the fastest growing in the world, but are also susceptible to sea level rise and fresh water shortages, among other climate challenges. They also generally lack adequate housing, education, and healthcare services. Climate migrants arriving in these ‘fragile cities’ may experience increased vulnerability as they find it particularly difficult to deal with the negative impacts facing the city at large, along with the existing urban poor.
French Court Recognizes Country’s First Environmentally-Impacted Migrant
In confirming a Bangladeshi man’s residence permit renewal, a French appeals court has made legal history by taking into account environmental conditions in the applicant’s country of origin. In an apparent first, the Bordeaux-based court “effectively declared that the environment - air pollution - meant it was unsafe to send this man back,” according to Dr. Gary Fuller, an air pollution scientist at Imperial College London.
French Court to Hear Landmark Case on Climate Inaction
A French court in Paris will begin hearings on January 14 on a case filed two years ago by four NGOs and supported by an online petition of 2.3 million signatures, accusing the French government of failing to act on climate change. The petitioners want the court to hold the French government to account for ecological damage, sending a message to urge other governments to take up stronger climate action.
In a joint statement, the NGOs noted the government’s efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, which “under this government's five-year term dropped at a pace that was twice as slow as the trajectories foreseen under the law."
As 2020 Ties for Hottest Year, Pandemic Delays Climate Action and Health Risks Widen Inequality
Data by the Climate Vulnerable Forum shows only 73 out of 160 nations have complied with the 2020 Paris Agreement deadline for countries to submit revised climate plans to the UN.
Of those 73, 69 countries have stepped up commitments in either adaptation or lowering emissions - 57 countries that submitted stronger emissions reduction targets account for only 13% of global emissions, while the 66 countries that committed to stronger adaptation, account for 1.67 billion people, just a fifth of the global population.
Power Shift in the Senate Could Signal Changes in US Science and Climate Policy
With the two Senate seat victories of Democratic candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Georgia yesterday, the Democrats will now have decisive control over the US Senate, garnering an easier passage of President-elect Joe Biden’s appointees and for lawmakers to pass new legislation on climate change.
Senate leadership will soon be under NY Democratic Senator Chuck Shumer who has shown interest in increasing federal spending on science research and innovation with the introduction of a new bill, signaled intent to increase spending on clean energy research and to work with the Biden administration on climate legislation.
Following Hurricane Devastation in Central America, Experts Weigh in on Migration & US Protection
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies report over 4.3 million Central Americans - including 3 million Hondurans - have been impacted by Hurricane Eta alone, which struck Nicaragua on November 3rd. Those numbers rose when Hurricane Iota struck two weeks later, again in Nicaragua on November 16th.
The Red Cross America’s division described conditions as a "triple emergency” in Honduras and Guatemala of: hurricane Eta, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the years-long drought that has deeply impacted agriculture, making even subsistence agriculture, impossible across large sections of the region. The Red Cross says it is now readying for internal displacement, as well as migration across borders, as a result.