Welcome back! 🙂
Building on last week’s post about marine issues and ocean injustice, I’ll be delving into climate refugees today, specifically those affected by sea-level rise.
Climate refugees refer to people who have been displaced across borders by climate change. The term is widely used, but unofficial – it is not used in international law. Why are climate migrants not considered refugees? Firstly, the most widely accepted definition of “refugees” refers to the movement of people due to social or political factors only. Secondly, “refugees” are displaced across borders, but climate change migrants have largely only been displaced within their own countries, with only a few occurrences of transboundary migration so far.
These definitions may be of little significance to you, but their importance will reveal itself later on!
Now, let’s explore how sea-level rise impacts global communities. The video below summarises the phenomenon, current rates of sea-level rise, and its global threat.
Kiribati is one of the most vulnerable nations to sea-level rise. Its made up of 33 atolls, which are doughnut-shaped islands with lagoons in the centre. These are very vulnerable to storm surges and sea-level rise – Tarawa, Kiribati’s capital which is home to most of Kiribati’s 112,000 residents, is elevated only 3 metres above sea level. Given that atolls are surrounded by more ocean than typical islands, places like Kiribati are likely to be submerged faster.
The video below shows the reality of climate change displacement for Kiribati’s residents.
Other Pacific islands like Tuvalu, the Maldives, and Marshall islands, also face the same dangers, with many factors worsening the situation. Unurbanised low-lying islands tend to have weaker economies, leading to a lack of financial resources needed to adapt to sea-level rise.
Furthermore, despite HICs like the USA and China contributing to the bulk of global carbon emissions, these islands bear the brunt of the consequences, with little help from wealthier nations. Warming oceans caused by these emissions contribute to greater sea-level rise, which will continue even if global emissions are cut, given the ocean’s high heat retention.
This will exacerbate coral bleaching, which will be devastating for Kiribati’s islands that rely on them for defence from storm surges and sea-level rise. Dredging will further disrupt its coral reef ecosystems, but Kiribati is left with no choice. Its lack of resources prevents it from adopting other more expensive adaptive measures like seawalls.
Therefore, climate-induced displacement is real for many low-lying nations. Many of Kiribati’s residents have had to move inland several times, and will have to move out of Kiribati for good when the islands become uninhabitable. They still may not be considered refugees, however, as mentioned earlier. This may pose a problem, as climate refugees, if left with no place to go, may not receive adequate help from international organisations. However, the term “climate refugees” may also prompt certain stigmas or give off negative connotations, which may make it even harder for migrants to be accepted. Thus, Kiribati believes in migration with dignity, and already has plans to migrate to Fiji when needed.
Sea-level rise is also severe in the southern coast of Louisiana, where its native Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians are referred to as the USA’s first climate refugees. Along with Louisiana’s high susceptibility to hurricanes (to be discussed next week), this highlights how climate change disproportionately impacts certain communities.
– Hope 🙂
Hi Hope,
Great post.
It occurs to me to point out that if we don’t act fast and meaningfully, most people on Earth may one day be “climate refugees”, including the elites.
Also, I oppose any effort to describe refugees as ‘migrants’ because it assigns a level of neutrality where in fact there is none. For instance, I perceive myself as a SG local but also a migrant. It was my choice to come here, and I came for work.
But I am also the daughter of a refugee. My grandparents and my mum were fleeing the aftermath of genocide and untenable conditions in their home country that posed an imminent threat to their wellbeing. They became CDN citizens and contributed to society like anyone else.
To suggest they had anything to be ashamed of or that their circumstances are like those of migrants (to me) amounts to removing some of their dignity and not wanting to acknowledge the hardships they endured.
I don’t actually think you’re suggesting there’s something wrong with being called a refugee, because I’m well aware of expert debate over what to call ppl who are displaced by climate change and I suspect you encountered it in your readings. And, I think you know I’m very sensitive to how language can harm.
All I’m saying is sometimes, in an effort to sanitise our language, we can go too far. And I’m way too proud of what my ancestors went through to sugar coat it and call them ‘migrants’.
jc
Hi Dr Coleman,
First of all, apologies for my late reply. Thank you so much for sharing a new perspective, it’s really interesting to hear your views, and especially hear about how your experiences have shaped them! 🙂 Definitely, I agree with you. We do go too far sometimes when trying to sanitise our language, and personally (especially after hearing what you had to say) I think it depends a lot on what people themselves want to be called!
This makes me wonder if climate refugees, or other refugees, are comfortable with being called refugees or would rather be called something else. I think a label could dehumanise them slightly, but then again, I think their decisions to escape from places with political or climate issues are very courageous and admirable. Hopefully one day a study could highlight this!
Sincerely,
Hope! 🙂
Hi Hope,
Yes. I think it’s essential to ask actual stakeholders about how they wish to be described.
We’ve seen, for instance, indigenous peoples in Australia actively prefer the term ‘Aboriginal’ – a term that is largely rejected by indigenous peoples in North America.
I guess this space is all about allowing people to define themselves and their realities, which is kind of a similar song to the one I guess I’ve been singing much of the sem.
jc