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ENVIRONMENTAL
MIGRATION
Disasters, such as floods, wildfires or storms, forcibly displace millions of people every year within their countries. Extreme environmental conditions and
accompanying challenges, such as destroyed crops through extreme droughts or floods, force many to leave their homes in search for new livelihoods. It is
expected that by 2050 climate change could lead up to 216 million people to move within their countries if no urgent action to reduce global greenhouse gas
emissions is taken (Clement et al. 2021).
In 2023
56% 8 million 11 %
of 47 million new internal displacements people living in internal displacement decrease in total number of IDPs due to
were triggered by disasters (IDPs) as a result of disaster disasters compared to 2022
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"When the first earthquake occurred, I woke my family up and we ran outside. It was
raining, there was lighting and thunder,” Abeer describes that tragic early morning. “We
stayed outside for so long, because our house was badly damaged. There were many large
cracks. We were afraid the roof would fall on our heads.” Read more...
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Environmental
There is a growing consensus among concerned agencies, including IOM and UNHCR, that the use of the terms "climate
migrants or refugee" and "environmental refugee" are to be avoided. They are misleading and fail to recognize a number of key aspects
that define population movements in the context of climate change and environmental degradation, including that
climate refugees? environmental migration is mainly internal and not necessarily forced, and the use of such terms could potentially undermine
the international legal regime for the protection of refugees (IOM, n.d.).
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Definitions
Some key terms are important in the context of migration and environmental and climatic changes:
Human mobility Environmentally displaced person
Environmental migration and environmental migrants Disaster displacement
Climate migration Planned relocation
Climate refugees or environmental refugees Trapped populations
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While Nigeria is no stranger to heavy rainfall which often causes rivers to swell, this year’s
floods have left a trail of destruction that has a!ected millions. Homes, schools, and
farmlands have been submerged, leaving communities grappling with the aftermath of
nature's fury. The floods have also caused more than 300 casualties and displaced 673,000
persons. Read more...
Trends
Internal displacements (2014 - 2023)
By year By region By hazard
Among the total of 46.9 million new internal displacements registered in 2023,
56 per cent were triggered by disasters (IDMC, 2024). In IDMC data collection,
disaster-induced displacements include both weather-related hazards (e.g. storms,
floods and wildfires) and geophysical hazards (e.g. earthquakes, volcanoes,
tsunamis) (IDMC, n.d.). As of 31 December 2023, at least 7.7 million people in 82
countries and territories were living in internal displacement as a result of disasters
that happened not only in 2023, but also in previous years (ibid.). This represents 11
per cent decrease in the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to
disasters compared to 2022 (ibid.). Disaster displacement in 2023 was the third
highest figure in the last decade, even though there were one third fewer
displacements due to weather-related hazards, partly resulting from La Niña’s end
and El Niño’s onset.
Internal migrant projections due to climate change (by 2050)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that more than
one billion people globally could be exposed to coastal-specific climate hazards by
2050, potentially driving tens to hundreds of millions of people to leave their home
in coming decades (IOM, 2022; IPCC, 2022),
Slow-onset processes such as droughts or sea level rise also increasingly a"ect
people’s mobility worldwide. In this regard, the World Bank’s Groundswell report
projects that climate change could lead up to 216 million people across six world
regions (Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America, East Asia and the Pacific,
North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia) to move within their countries by
2050 if no urgent action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions is taken
(Clement et al. 2021).
Data strengths and About Strengths Limitations
limitations Over the past decade, important advances in methodologies and data collection have been made, but further development is
required and challenges remain.
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