People in informal settlements, impoverished urban areas, refugee camps, prisons and war zones may be particularly vulnerable to climate threats and natural hazards. A new study explores how policy makers address their situation.
Climate change and extreme weather events can act as drivers of immigration. However, in some cases, they can also keep people from leaving. In the new study published in Nature Communications, scientists from more than a dozen institutions believe that these “trapped populations” require tailored policies to reduce climate risks and help them adapt to a given location or to ensure they can migrate if they want to.
“The involuntary population is large and large. “Cultural and legal barriers, limited opportunities for humanitarian assistance, and other constraints, such as conflict and poverty, make the livelihoods of such populations particularly vulnerable to climate-induced threats,” said Lisa Thalheimer, a researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Applied Systems Analysis. [such as] Drought, heat waves [and] Sea level rises. ”
In their study, the researchers highlighted many case studies that reflect the political and legal barriers to immigration faced by vulnerable populations. An example is the nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees living in camps in southeastern Bangladesh. Starting in 2017, they have fled genocide violence in neighboring Myanmar. Now stateless, they live in one of the densely populated areas of the world, stuffed into areas facing high-level landslide exposure, as well as coastal and inland flooding.
The researchers noted that current climate flow research focuses on mobile populations, rather than those who cannot or are unwilling to act.
“By focusing on involuntary immobility in climate and disaster risk policies, we have a deeper understanding of how climate change, climate change and extreme weather events affect vulnerable populations,” said Andrew Kruczkiewicz, a researcher at the National Disaster Preparation Center for Columbia Climate School of Columbia. “This understanding is crucial in developing strategies to reduce disaster risk.”
Scientists have made a series of comprehensive suggestions, including:
- Identify key drivers of involuntaryity, make marginalized populations more vulnerable to natural hazards and climate change, and ensure that they are included in the data collection process.
- The ability to conduct a systematic review of affected communities and their adaptation, relocation and mitigate the impact of natural hazards and climate change in a given location.
- Establish a global involuntary fixed support mechanism.
The study was also co-authored by scientists from Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States. It originated from a large discussion at the 2023 retreat held by Columbia Climate School in 2023.
Adapted from a press release from the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis.
