Climate-related migration is a growing concern, with cities struggling to cope with 1.2 billion displaced by 2050. To address this, cross-border cooperation, a relook of the 1951 refugee convention, and the integration of global health and migration are essential. This includes addressing risks from climate-induced shocks, crime, violence, poverty, and health consequences, and promoting inter-generational solidarity.
Climate-related migration is a growing concern, with cities worldwide struggling to address the increasing number of people migrating due to extreme weather events and climate change. With an estimated 1.2 billion people expected to be displaced by 2050, it is crucial to revisit existing frameworks, embrace transboundary cooperation, and build global health diplomacy that puts people at the heart of policies.
Climate migrants are growing faster than ever before, and transboundary diplomacy can help escape growing pressures. A mature diplomatic engagement requires multilateral cooperation to address risks from climate-induced shocks and choice-based migration fueled by globalization and individual preferences. This would require a relook of the 1951 refugee convention, which would require meaningful amendment in 2024 that builds on a human connection with multilateral factors that influence existence at large.
The UNHCR’s legal guidance published in October 2020 provides new windows on how the effects of global warming must offer protection to children of this world. The 1951 refugee convention cannot exist in 2024 without addressing the cascading impact of climate migration and its intersection with crime, violence, rising poverty, depleting safety nets, and consequences on international health. Diplomatic frameworks to make people eligible for resettlement if their origins are no longer inhabitable must be mainstreamed urgently, and new policies developed to build better resources in existing environments.
A new world order will need to stem not just from traditional guarded diplomatic ideas and norms but also reemerge to build a new identity for the most challenging problems of our times in an age of cascading risks proliferation. Loss and damage funding for climate migrants should be mainstreamed and focused on a full-fledged process for rehabilitation and livelihood, guarding generations from nature-induced shocks stemming from human-induced greed.
Enabling the integration of global health and migration is essential, as the number of people migrating has risen steeply since the 80s and 90s. National governments must invest in upgrading policies and focusing on social impact through a public health and climate change approach. Inter-generational solidarity and reflection are needed to see how we have left behind several policies without the true need to relook at them. The refugee convention of 1951 needs to be rebuilt with new definitions putting global health, migration, and climate as part of the conversation.
Conclusion
Climate-related migration is a growing concern, with cities struggling to cope with the increasing number of people migrating due to extreme weather events and climate change. With an estimated 1.2 billion people expected to be displaced by 2050, it is crucial to revisit existing frameworks, embrace transboundary cooperation, and build global health diplomacy that puts people at the heart of policies. A mature diplomatic engagement requires multilateral cooperation to address risks from climate-induced shocks and choice-based migration. A new world order must stem from traditional guarded diplomatic ideas and norms, focusing on loss and damage funding for climate migrants and integrating global health and migration.
