Climate Visuals

Changes in the environment, whether caused by the dynamics of nature or by human action, are very diverse and can lead to temporary or permanent migrations, depending on the nature of those changes. Some people are forced to migrate but wish to return home as soon as the situation is resolved, but there are also those who make the decision to live a new life in a different place.

Currently, environmental migrations are one of the main types of migration in the world. However, there are still no clear records of these phenomena, due to the diversity of factors that produce these forced displacements and the lack of importance given to this issue as a result of the climate emergency still not being internationally acknowledged.

If we consider internal displacements (forced migrations where people do not leave their country of origin), for which we have a more complete record, it is clear that the major factor in this type of migration is for reasons relating to environmental disaster (32.6 million people), and in greater numbers than forced displacement due to conflicts and violence (28.3 million people).

A family refuge on the roof of the house in a flood in Bangladesh / Muhammad Amdad Hossain

The International Organization for Migration (IOM-UN) defines environmental migration as “the movement of people who, for reasons of sudden or progressive changes in the environment that adversely affect their lives, are forced to leave their places of habitual residence, either temporarily or permanently, and who move within or outside their country of origin”. Currently, the planet is experiencing an ecological crisis produced by the actions of human beings. This emergency situation, caused by transgressing the boundaries of our planet, is the main reason for the rise in this type of migration.

There are different terms that refer to the various causes or impacts of environmental migration, such as climate migration, climate refugees, environmental refugees, or disaster displacements. Climate change is one of the fundamental elements contributing to weather-related disasters (droughts, hurricanes, etc.), but when referring to environmental migration, we include all those migrations that are not only due to climate change, but also to:

– Gradual degradation of the environment due to economic activities such as factory farms, monocultures, mining, exploitation of fishery resources, hydrocarbon extraction, forest logging or production of plastics, and also other industrial activities that produce water and air pollution, desertification, soil contamination, biodiversity extinction and depletion of natural resources.

– Industrial accidents such as explosions, spills, floods, collapses, radioactive contamination, and fires, among other impacts.

– Impacts of climate change such as landslides, rising temperatures, sea level rise, increase in the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, storms or fires as a result of emissions from the richest countries and transnational corporations.

– Macro-projects that displace the population and monopolize resources such as dams, industrial agricultural and livestock farming practices, industrial centers, trans-basin diversions, deployment of renewable energy mega-parks, and other land uses that expel the population, either due to occupation of their living environment, or because they deplete or privatize the resources necessary for supporting life and society

Map of forced internal displacements caused by conflicts and violence and by meteorological and geophysical disasters / IDMC

This analytical framework makes it possible to identify who is responsible for these forced displacements. The actors who cause many of these migrations are easy to point out (transnational corporations, governments, in vestment funds, etc.) and it is clear which populations are affected, since they suffer impacts that are easy to detect.

On the other hand, if we only look at migrations related to climate change, attributing responsibility is more complex, since the changes deriving from the climate emergency are progressive over time and are very vague (gradual rises in sea level, increases in periods of drought, increases in the frequency of major storms), and identifying a specific actor as being responsible is difficult, since greenhouse gases are emitted globally.

In fact, alongside the contribution of climate change to the worsening impacts of meteorological phenomena, many of the causes of forced environmental displacement are due to the extractivist activities of transnational corporations from rich countries causing the collapse of ecosystems and people’s means of livelihood. Environmental (and human rights) defenders are the people who dedicate themselves to protecting territory and nature against these extractivist practices, and who confront major economic powers.

It should be remembered that some of these activities currently being carried out in the countries of the Global South were previously carried out in the countries of the Global North, which, upon seeing the impacts on their citizens’ health, began to make environmental laws restricting these activities.

The result of these policies was the offshoring of companies (relocation of industrial activity to another country to reduce costs) from the North to the Global South, where such legislation is either very lax or non-existent. This causes great inequalities at a global level and creates a situation of grave injustice at an ecological and social level, since countries of the Global South are then struck by the impacts of industrial activity that produces the goods and resources we consume in the countries of the Global North.

Flooding following a storm in Venice / Adam Sébire

The Mediterranean basin is an area that has very particular environmental characteristics, with a climate that combines periods of drought with periods of heavy rainfall. This means that climate change in territories such as Catalonia translates into differing impacts, such as periods of water scarcity (lack of water) and droughts, land desertification, death of vegetation and fauna, increases in fires, food crises, flash floods, and extreme temperatures (heatwaves).

The Mediterranean Sea divides the basin into three different climatic regions: in the north, Europe, with high rainfall and low temperature climates; in the south, North Africa, with high temperatures and less abundant rainfall; and in the east, the Middle East and Far East, with a similar climate to North Africa. This distribution generates territorial inequality with respect to the effects of climate change, with the south and east of the Mediterranean basin being more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Indeed, the Mediterranean is already experiencing a change in climate at a rate that exceeds global averages; the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers the Mediterranean region to be highly vulnerable to climate change. Air temperature in the Mediterranean basin has risen to +1.5 °C above pre-industrial values, which is well above the global average.

Fishermen in Senegal / Carsten ten Brink

An almost submerged house / Climate Visuals

Climate change is profoundly changing political, economic and social circumstances. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the effects of climate change can aggravate divisions and vulnerabilities, and that extractivist practices move environmental problems to the most impoverished countries, thus fuelling violence and insecurity. But it is equally evident that many countries in the Global North, such as countries in southern Europe, are also vulnerable and may face forced displacements in the near future.

In many of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, fragility and conflicts weaken the adaptation mechanisms they have available. In fact, the African continent, the Middle East and the Far East are some of the territories with the highest number of internal displacements related to weather phenomena, and are also where a large number of armed conflicts are concentrated.

The ecological crisis can contribute to the increase in military conflicts, since it increases competition for scarce resources, creates massive population displacements, and generates tensions related to the management of natural resources, such as water and arable land. It is essential to address these problems collectively and cooperatively in order to mitigate the risk of conflict, as well as to ensure that regulatory and institutional frameworks can protect populations.

Ecological debt is the debt that industrialised countries owe to other countries for dispossessing their natural resources in the past and present. In other words, it is the debt owed by countries that became rich from plundering colonised countries, to which is added the accumulated cost of relocating environmental degradation to the rest of the planet in order to deposit waste created by their economic model.

But the reality is that unequal power relations between countries still exist today, and the capitalist economic model is maintained due to neocolonialist practices towards the Global South. These new strategies of exploitation and dispossession keep increasing the ecological debt of the Global North countries and are required to maintain the current production and consumption model of the most enriched societies.

Like in all other dimensions of life, gender creates inequalities among people who suffer forced displacement due to the deterioration of their environment. In fact, women suffer a double injustice, due to the effects of the ecological crisis and gender differences.

In many societies, women are actually the guardians of natural resources and play an important role in building local resilience and managing socio-economic vulnerabilities caused both by natural risks and as induced by the actions of human beings. In fact, women are agents of change in their countries of origin and so their role in climate change resistance is fundamental, which is why they should be made visible and their inclusion in peacebuilding programmes and post-crisis contexts should be encouraged.

Women collecting water in Bangladesh / Abir Abdullah – Climate Visuals

However, they also suffer a whole collection of violences as a consequence of being a woman in a patriarchal society. Here are some examples:

– INEQUALITY of access to land and property which makes it impossible for women to have autonomy and puts their food security at risk.

– OVERWHELMING LEVELS of housework due to disasters that damage homes and livelihoods.

– LESS ACCESS to education and training for girls in crisis contexts, where priority is given to boys attending school.

– VIOLENCE, abuse and child marriages that originate in contexts of poverty and precariousness resulting from disasters.

– A MASCULINITY CRISIS that translates into domestic violence. These affect men who financially provide for their households; and in disaster contexts, men can lose their jobs or livelihoods. – SOCIAL ROLES that make survival difficult in humanitarian crisis contexts, such as lack of capacity or lack of food for women and girls.

– SOCIAL ROLES that make survival difficult in humanitarian crisis contexts, such as lack of capacity or lack of food for women and girls.

– THE WATER PROBLEM: Globally, women are mostly the ones who undertake bringing water into their homes. In crisis contexts, the path they must take may lengthen considerably (heightening their risk of violence en route and requiring a greater dedication of time and physical effort to the task), and water may be scarcer or of lower quality (potentially translating into domestic violence).

Woman working on the beach / Natalija Gormalova – Climate Visuals