Climate Change and Migration The Impact of Climate Change on Migration from the Global South to the Global North
Last month, one of the most significant tragedies in U.S. human smuggling history occurred in San Antonio, Texas. Fifty-one migrants believed to be from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador were found dead in an abandoned big rig. The fact that migrants will risk their lives on this dangerous journey is unfortunately not surprising. In fact, immigration officials encountered more than 1.7 million migrants along the U.S. border in 2021. This number was three times larger than that reported in 2020, perhaps partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, an estimated 6,000 Latin American migrants are traveling together through Mexico this year, hoping to cross the border into the United States. While the reasons for migration to the U.S. are not entirely related to climate change, the statistics suggest that climate change's effects continue to uproot many people, especially in the Global South. For example, in 2017, 90 million people migrated from the Global South to the Global North. Furthermore, in 2020 alone, global weather-related disasters uprooted 30 million people. Some estimates claim that by the year 2050, 140 million to 1.2 billion people will be displaced by climate change. Climate change is a global issue. However, it's more dramatic in the Global South as combating the crisis are fewer. The global South's climate change crises are firestorms, once-in-a-century floods, droughts, and polluted lakes.
The Relationship Between Climate Change and Migration
The effects of climate change can force people out of their homelands to seek opportunities elsewhere. Extreme weather can create droughts, floods, and high temperatures. These circumstances are especially dire for farmers in the Global South. For example, in Central America's 'dry corridor, climate change can hinder crop production through long stretches of drought. Farmers may have to leave their lands because their crops cannot survive. Other ways climate change can lead to migration include increased food insecurity, larger health risks, and growing resource scarcity, especially water. These conditions can lead to violence and civil unrest. Along those same lines, the effects of climate change can exacerbate both economic insecurity and political instability. In atmospheres like this, corruption, crime, conflicts, generalized violence, and extreme poverty often occur. The citizens' lives are in danger, and they must leave. Unfortunately, the effects of climate change are getting worse, not better. The past five years were the five hottest years ever recorded.
How Can We Mitigate the Impact of Climate Change on Migration?
Climate change, on its own, cannot be blamed for all migration issues, but it is an important starting point. The effects of climate change might not be as dire without other factors, such as a long history of exploitation, inequality, and accumulation. So to mitigate the impact of climate change on migration, it is essential to consider the totality of these circumstances above. The United States is an influential nation and can lead by example. The federal government can decrease its contribution to global warming by reducing its emissions and through financial and technological assistance to nations impacted the most by climate change. Of course, this is not a new suggestion. In fact, in 2009, high-income countries pledged to provide $100 billion a year in financing to low-income countries for this purpose by 2020. The pledge remains primarily unfulfilled. While most comprehensive studies have shown that foreign aid is an ineffective policy tool in this regard, directing the funds to specific purposes could help. The main way to ensure funds are used to curb climate change effects, rather than siphoned to other areas due to corrupt governments, a framework developed through true collaboration between Global North and Global South Nations must exist. This has been, to date, mostly an obstacle.
Having said that, some institutions took action to limit migration in the long-term - by 2030. For example, the IOM has implemented migration, environment, and climate change strategies for the next decade. The strategy’s priority is to address the climate crisis and its effects on migration by looking at the following three objectives: develop solutions for people to move, develop solutions for people on the move, and develop solutions for people to stay.
References:
IOM Launches Institutional Strategy on Migration, Environment and Climate Change for Next Decade (October 2021):
What the climate crisis looks like in the Global South (March 2022):
https://klimareporter.in/what-the-climate-crisis-looks-like-in-the-global-south/
Migration to the U.S. is on the rise again – but it's unlikely to be fully addressed during the Summit of the Americas, or anytime soon (June 2022):
The Impact of Climate Change: Migration and Cities in South America (2014):
Why the conversation about climate change and migration needs to change (November 2021):
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2022/2/22/conversation-about-climate-change-migration
How does climate change affect migration? (June 2021):
https://earth.stanford.edu/news/how-does-climate-change-affect-migration#gs.4nel3h
Climate Change and International Migration: The Role of Foreign Aid (February 2021):
At least 51 migrants dead after being found inside an abandoned truck in San Antonio, officials say (June 2022):
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