Recently, the term “climate refugee” has been appearing quite a bit in political debates and the news, but many people still don’t know what this term means or who it pertains to. What follows is a brief overview of who and what we’re talking about when people are called “climate refugees.” 

What is a climate refugee?

While there is still some debate over the definition of a “climate refugee,” most sources agree that the term refers to a person who has to emigrate from their homeland due to the disastrous effects of climate change.

Oxford Languages defines the term “climate refugee” as “a person who has been forced to leave their home as a result of the effects of climate change on their environment.”

Dictionary.com says a climate refugee is “a person who has had to flee their home due to the negative effects of climate change.”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees explains that the term refers to “persons displaced in the context of disasters and climate change.”

A Breakdown of the Terminology

A refugee is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.” The term stems from the Late Middle English word “refuge,” meaning “a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble,” which originally referred to French Protestants who left their country in pursuit of religious freedom. 

Climate is defined by that same source as “the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period.” It originally stems from Old French, meaning a region between two lines of latitude, but later transformed to indicate a region in itself, and then finally a region defined by its atmospheric conditions.

Global warming affects climates by shifting weather patterns, which in turn can make areas too dry to grow crops or prone to forest fires, or make an area too wet and open regions up to the possibility of devastating floods — causing living conditions to be too difficult and dangerous.

Accordingly, the term “climate refugee” refers to a person who is forced to leave their homeland in order to escape the effects of climate change that make an area unlivable.

Where does the term come from?

Several sources say that the term “climate refugee” comes from the 1985 United Nations Environment Programme researcher Essam El-Hinnawi, who defined the term as a person who has been “forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or permanently, because of marked environmental disruption.”

Who are the climate refugees of today?

There are many climate refugees who have been displaced due to environmental degradation today, most of them located in the global south. Many of these climate refugees come from Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Bangladesh. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs puts the number of people displaced due to climate change around 100 million people.

Who are the climate refugees of tomorrow?

The Institute for Economics and Peace estimates that within the next thirty years, there could be upwards of a billion climate refugees around the world. According to the Institute, “Over one billion people live in 31 countries where the country’s resilience is unlikely to

sufficiently withstand the impact of ecological events by 2050, contributing to mass

population displacement.” Their report also states that nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in countries that are likely to experience “extreme water stress” by 2040.

What can be done about climate migration?

The only solution to prevent more people from being displaced due to environmental conditions is to stop the degradation of Earth’s environmental conditions. This means expanding climate mitigation efforts like reducing fossil fuel use and carbon emissions, reining in deforestation and unsustainable agricultural and development practices, and switching to renewable energy sources to lessen humanity’s impact on the environment.

In addition, we must invest in climate adaptation and resilience strategies to help communities prepare for climate impacts. That includes building or updating infrastructure to withstand extreme weather and reduce the risk from rising sea levels and increased flooding. It also means diversifying crops and managing natural resources to ensure food and water supplies aren’t disrupted.

While we can’t reverse climate impacts already in motion, we can act today to prepare for weather shifts and extreme weather events. And, we can enact measures to keep the climate crisis from getting worse. With tens of millions of people’s lives and livelihoods hanging in the balance, there’s no time to waste.