CLIMATE REFUGEES

✅ With climate change, the number of 'climate refugees' will rise in the future. The International  

Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that there could be as many as 200 million such refugees by  

2050

✅ In 2018 alone, 17.2 million new  

displacements associated with  

disasters in 148 countries and  

territories were recorded (IDMC)  

and 764,000 people in Somalia,  

Afghanistan and several other  

countries were displaced  

following drought.

 

✅ Most disaster displacement  

linked to natural hazards and the  

impacts of climate change is  

internal, with those affected  

remaining within their national  

borders. However, displacement  

across borders also occurs, and  

may be interrelated with  

situations of conflict or violence.

 

✅ Climate refugees are now  

recognised in the 2018 global  

compact on safe, orderly and  

regular migration under its objectives. However, there is a clear protection gap with regard to 'climate  

refugees', who are neither clearly defined as a category nor covered by the 1951 Convention relating to  

the Status of Refugees (the 1951 Refugee Convention).