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Bonn Dialogues Panellists Discuss the Future of Environmental Migrants
Stakeholders say that environmental migration is a pressing global issue that should be acknowledged by policy makers so that concrete measures can be implemented.
The environmental migration phenomenon is accelerating; alarming numbers have come to surface stating that over forty countries will no longer exist by the end of the century because of climate change, and that by 2050, there will be over 200 million environmental migrants. In the latest Bonn Dialogues series, environmental migration stakeholders met with the public to debate the critical measures and policies that should be made to deal with this vital issue.
Participants ranged from scientists and environmental activists to government officials, “Interlinked threats require interdisciplinary actions and efforts”, stated the Deputy Mayor of Bonn, Peter Finger.
In these last twenty months, the question of the environment as a driver for migration has been studied and accepted by most scientists worldwide. The challenge now is for it to be taken into account by the policy makers for concrete action to take place. Though, as Dimitria Clayton from the Ministry of Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Woman and Integration pointed out, the only attention given to migration affairs nowadays is, unfortunately, motivated by the fear factor and only considered in the policy field if the consequences take place in the short-term.
Environmental activist, Christoph Bals from Germanwatch, argued that waiting isn’t an option and long-term consequences should be taken into account, ”We have to act now, and not drive the debate by fear”. He added that northern countries have a responsible role to play, as well as a
moral and legal obligation to deal with this issue since they are the main instigators of the problem. The states could do this by establishing eco-friendly policies on their own territories and changing their migration policies. Tamer Afifi; from the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security, added that preventive measures, like investing in adaptation strategies in the vulnerable countries, could avoid their people the need to migrate in the future.
Though all the participants agreed that the creation of policies to support environmental migrants is crucial, what exactly should be done is still not clear. Gottfried Koefner from the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees asks” More resources and investments need to be made, but where should the money go?”. Clayton agrees that the issue still remains abstract and that more research should be made before decisions are taken, particularly on environmental refugees’ statuses. The question now is how long the world can wait before the problem gets out of hand and the states are overwhelmed with issues they had refused to look at earlier.
The 4th public symposium of the Bonn Dialogues programme, a series of public forums that focuses on topics associated with global environmental change, was inspired by two recent major events that took place in the city of Bonn: the Environment, Forced Migration and Social Vulnerability Conference and the 13th International Metropolis Conference.
