First of two parts
CLIMATE refugees are people who have been forcibly displaced as a result of environmental factors caused by climate change and natural disasters. Every year since 2008, 26.4 million people have been forced to leave their countries due to extraordinary weather events, such as typhoons, tsunamis, floods and natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions (When people seek refuge within their own countries as environmental refugees, they are commonly referred to as internally displaced persons).
Scientific studies revealed rising seas will supplant encroaching deserts and other forms of land degradation as the major threat to the habitability of many places this century. The evacuation of 1,400 residents of Papua New Guinea’s Carteret Islands (the world’s first climate refugees, according to the United Nations) due to rising sea levels offers a sobering vision of the future for coastal populations.
Global warming brought about by excessive fossil fuel use is reported to result in thermal expansion of the oceans and the melting of icecaps. A 1-meter increase in sea level will displace millions of people in the delta regions of the Nile and Ganges rivers, further compounding land scarcity in Egypt and Bangladesh. To think that the world population is projected to increase by 93 million annually, all of them in need of food, water and shelter. In fact, as the root causes of the Southeast Asian migrant crisis unraveled, it was not surprising, as it turned out in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees-backed Bangkok Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean of concerned countries, that some of the “boat people” are in reality climate refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar aiming to get to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The combined effects of warmer climates and higher seas will make typhoons more frequent and more destructive, further damaging the habitability of coastal areas. Extensive river diversions will markedly lessen the amount of freshwater discharged into coastal areas while higher sea levels will increase saltwater intrusion thus reducing mangrove forest cover and disrupting major fisheries within fragile ecosystems.
Endangered places that may cease to exist include, among others, Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, Maldives in the Indian Ocean, as well as the touristic string of emerald islands and islets in the Caribbean, prompting the formation of an association of small island states working toward solutions to their plight to counter sea level rise before the United Nations.
Platforms on forced climate displacement
Climate refugees are very much benefited by the Platform on Disaster Management, a state-led initiative largely supported by Germany, that works to protect people displaced by the impacts of natural disasters. Successful initiative examples are Australia and New Zealand’s programs designed for Pacific island states, allowing people to obtain work visas for a number of months. The two countries’ programs offer access to skills development and support services to help people invest the money they earn back home so that their families can cope better and stay where they are for at least some more years. As an example, in a village in Samoa, 20 to 25 young men per year leave to work in Australia, where they earn seven times more than what they earn in Samoa. The money that goes back is utilized in establishing businesses and in making stormproof dwellings.
Furthermore, international relocation is under consideration in the Pacific island states. Kiribati, for example, purchased an area of higher ground on Fiji, a precedent in the context of climate change. The land could be used for resettlement purposes, or it could be farmed to secure food supply. Fiji, on the other hand, has its own relocation plans.
The message of the Pacific island peoples is clear. They want to leave in a controlled manner and not end up in refugee camps.
On the other hand, an Asean member state like the Philippines has borne the brunt of many natural calamities in the recent past, e.g., typhoons, which caused floods, landslides and monsoon rains in the archipelago; the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck the islands of Cebu closely followed by a 4.7-magnitude earthquake in La Union with aftershocks reaching Benguet and Baguio City; and then, after a day, a 7.4 earthquake in southern Mindanao. To recall, Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 claimed lives, property and crops, but with response consisting of ecosystem-based adaptation like mangroves which dissipate wave energy during typhoons and tsunamis.
A project of the US-based Conservation International, making use of nature-based solutions like planting mangroves has also the advantage of least expense and the opportunity for coastal communities to collect mangrove forest species like crabs, fishes, etc., to improve livelihoods. Restoring mangroves has economic benefits beyond breaking waves compared to concrete seawalls which are expensive and the object of repairs from time to time.
In pursuance of the ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solution mentioned above, there is an available Adaptation Fund in the context of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, with $180 million to increase resilience to climate change.
To be concluded on Jan. 31, 2026
