In Davos, calls to address climate migration and a culture of welcome, not fear
The following is originally published Columbia University Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.
Ama Francis speaks during a session titled “Man on the Move: Seeing Opportunity” at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, on Jan. 19 speak. Copyright: World Economic Forum/Jakob Polacsek
Leaders from politics, business, civil society, media and academia gathered in Davos, Switzerland, in January for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting to discuss some of the world’s most pressing issues. This year, I had the privilege of participating in two panel discussions on climate migration as a strategist for the Climate Migration Project. International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) and Columbia University Non-Resident Fellow Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.
The focus on climate migration is right this year.forum Global Risks Report 2023 Identifying “failure to mitigate climate change” and “massive involuntary migration” as among the top five risks facing the world over the next decade, even though the legal infrastructure to protect climate migrants and displaced people is almost non-existent. While it is important to see the issue gain the necessary space on the agenda, the annual meeting also showed that some calls for action on climate change appear to be driven more by fear of climate migration and displacement than by climate change Acceptance of change. It is sincerely hoped that solutions will be found for those most affected.
Involuntary migration due to climate change is not a new phenomenon. For people in areas particularly vulnerable to environmental hazards, this risk has been severe and persistent for many years.As Deng Dak Malual, Impact Officer corner hub with my team members Open Forum: Pack Your Bags – Climate Migration, said: More than half of the 200,000 refugees currently living in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya are fleeing environmental disasters. Their homes and livelihoods were destroyed by drought and floods, making it impossible for them to stay.
During the panel, I shared my family’s story and how our home in Dominica was destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Last Christmas was the first time my family was able to spend at our house since the hurricane.I urge attendees to “Think about the […] What it would be like to lose that comfort and stability. I think losing our home is one of the most destructive things that can happen to us as humans, and I think making sure everyone has a safe place to live is one of the most important things we can do. “
The fact that migration is a form of climate adaptation is not new, but as the frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters increases, so does climate migration and displacement.I therefore welcome the opportunity to speak directly to policy makers and other stakeholders from around the world, and to introduce to them the legal settlements that IRAP and our partners have identified as necessary, viable strategies to support climate migration and displaced persons program (see recent report here and here).
The best way forward is not to make existing laws more complicated, but to come up with creative solutions that make it easier, not harder, for people to flee danger.
addressing key climate migration and displacement is to create a legal framework that enables climate migrants and displaced persons to gain fast and easy access to safety. Unfortunately, international and domestic laws are severely out of touch with today’s challenges and cannot adequately meet current needs. For example, the climate-affected refugees Deng Xiaoping met with in Kakuma would not be protected under current refugee law. But even if we had a protected category specifically for climate refugees, the complexity of the various interconnected forces of displacement makes it difficult even for climate-affected refugees themselves to identify as such.
The best way forward is not to make existing laws more complicated, but to come up with creative solutions that make it easier, not harder, for people to flee danger. We can even build mechanisms to support action before predicted environmental damage occurs.as i in davos say: “We let goods cross borders…but when it comes to migration, we make it very difficult for humans to get from one place to another, even though going from one place to another is one of the most natural things we do. Part of solving this crisis is building safe ways for people to move easily forward Disaster struck. “
Some of the solutions I shared in Davos were discussed with a wide range of legal scholars, practitioners and advocates at the Legal Strategies Conference hosted by IRAP in October (see here summary report). They range from free movement agreements and humanitarian visas, to student and labor pathways. Some of these options currently exist, but are too limited to be available to everyone who needs them. Others are yet to be designed and implemented by the government. But they all have one thing in common: Without a culture of welcome, and the political will to resource and implement these pathways, they will be unable to meet the growing challenges of climate migration and displacement.
“The problem with climate migration is not that we don’t have solutions,” I said on a panel. “We have a lot of solutions. The problem is we don’t have the political and cultural will to implement those solutions. Climate change requires us to make so many transformations as humans to create societies where we welcome people.”
My appeal to Davos participants is simple: Those in power have a lot of leverage to make these solutions a reality. More importantly, they can help change the narrative on climate migration and displacement from a rhetoric of fear to a culture of welcome and mutual support.
Ama Francis is a nonresident fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, the Columbia Climate School.
