Status: 13.09.2021 9:15 p.m.
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According to a report by the World Bank, climate change will force large numbers of people to migrate within their country. Lower emissions and sustainable development could significantly mitigate the consequences.
According to the World Bank, climate change could displace more than 200 million people from their homes in the next three decades. If measures are not taken immediately to reduce global emissions, real migration hotspots could arise, according to a report by the institution.
The report says that climate change is an “increasingly strong driver” of migration. The experts point to, among other things, an impending decline in agricultural production, water scarcity and rising sea levels as a result of global warming.
People south of the Sahara are particularly hard hit
In the most pessimistic scenario with high emissions and uneven development in the countries, the report predicts that up to 216 million people would have to relocate within their own countries in the six regions examined. Latin America, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, South Asia as well as East Asia and the Pacific were examined.
According to this, up to 86 million people in sub-Saharan Africa could become internal migrants because their homes are no longer habitable due to climate change. It could affect around 49 million people in East Asia and the Pacific region, 40 million in South Asia, and 17 to 19 million in North Africa and Latin America. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, too, the poor climatic conditions could force five million to give up their homes.
In the most climate-friendly case with a low level of emissions and sustainable development, the number of migrants could be up to 80 percent lower, according to the report, but this would still result in the resettlement of 44 million people.
Authors call for action
Jürgen Vögele, Vice President for Sustainable Development, explained that the report once again made it clear what toll humankind would have to pay for climate change. Above all, the poorest in the world, who contributed the least to the causes, were hit.
The authors also emphasize the urgent importance of the fight against climate change. With immediate and coordinated steps to reduce emissions and support measures for green and sustainable development, climate migration can be significantly reduced.
The report also warns that hot spots of migration will emerge over the next decade and could intensify by 2050. Planning ahead is necessary in both the areas people will move to and the areas they will leave, the World Bank said. Those who stayed in their homeland had to be helped.
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