San Antonio Express-News

Climate change may force 200 million to move by 2050

- By Renata Brito

BARCELONA, Spain — Climate change could push more than 200 million people to leave their homes in the next three decades and create migration hot spots unless urgent action is taken to reduce global emissions and bridge the developmen­t gap, a World Bank report has found.

The second part of the Groundswel­l report published Monday examined how the impacts of slowonset climate change such as water scarcity, decreasing crop productivi­ty and rising sea levels could lead to millions of what it describes as “climate migrants” by 2050 under three different scenarios with varying degrees of climate action and developmen­t.

Under the most pessimisti­c scenario, with a high level of emissions and unequal developmen­t, the report forecasts up to 216 million people moving within their own countries across the six regions analyzed. Those regions are Latin America; North Africa; Subsaharan Africa; Eastern Europe and Central Asia; South Asia; and East Asia and the Pacific.

In the most climate-friendly scenario,

with a low level of emissions and inclusive, sustainabl­e developmen­t, the world could still see 44 million people being forced to leave their homes.

The findings “reaffirm the potency of climate to induce migration within countries,” said Viviane Wei Chen Clement, a senior climate change specialist at the World Bank and one of the report’s authors.

The report didn’t look at the short-term impacts of climate change, such as the effects of extreme

weather events, and did not look at climate migration across borders.

In the worst-case scenario, Subsaharan Africa — the most vulnerable region due to desertific­ation, fragile coastlines and the population’s dependence on agricultur­e — would see the most migrants, with up to 86 million people moving within national borders.

North Africa, however, is predicted to have the largest proportion of climate migrants, with 19 million people moving, equivalent to roughly 9 percent of its population, due mainly to increased water scarcity in northeaste­rn Tunisia, northweste­rn Algeria, western and southern Morocco, and the central Atlas foothills, the report said.

In South Asia, Bangladesh is particular­ly affected by flooding and crop failures, accounting for almost half of the predicted climate migrants, with 19.9 million people moving by 2050 under the pessimisti­c scenario.

“This is our humanitari­an reality right now and we are concerned this is going to be even worse, where vulnerabil­ity is more acute,” said Professor Maarten van Aalst, director of the Internatio­nal Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.

Many scientists say the world is no longer on track to the worstcase scenario for emissions. But even under a more moderate scenario, van Aalst said many impacts are now occurring faster than previously expected, “including the extremes we are already experienci­ng, as well as potential implicatio­ns for migration and displaceme­nt.”

While climate change’s influence on migration is not new, it is often part of a combinatio­n of factors pushing people to move, and acts as a threat multiplier. People affected by conflicts and inequality are also more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as they have limited means to adapt.

“Globally we know that three out of four people that move stay within countries,” said Dr. Kanta Kumari Rigaud, a lead environmen­tal specialist at the World Bank and co-author of the report.

The report also warns that migration hot spots could appear within the next decade and intensify by 2050. Planning is needed both in the areas where people will move to, and in the areas they leave to help those who remain.

Among the actions recommende­d were achieving “net zero emissions by mid-century to have a chance at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius” and investing in developmen­t that is “green, resilient, and inclusive, in line with the Paris Agreement.“

Clement and Rigaud warned that the worst-case scenario is still plausible if collective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and invest in developmen­t isn’t taken soon, especially in the next decade.

 ?? Anupam Nath / Associated Press ?? A family flees with their goats after flooding in India. Climate change is pushing more people out of their homes.
Anupam Nath / Associated Press A family flees with their goats after flooding in India. Climate change is pushing more people out of their homes.

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