As part of international migrations, according to UNHCR, in 2022, disasters caused a record 32.6 million displacements. Remarkably, 98% of these were triggered by climate-related hazards as documented by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
In fact, 84% of refugees and asylum seekers in 2022 fled from countries highly vulnerable to climate change, marking a 61% increase compared to 2010. Most people forced to flee their homes move within their own countries, but international migrations are increasingly common.
Currently, the right to asylum due to the effects of climate change is not yet recognized, unlike protection for those escaping war conflicts, as defined during the 1951 Geneva Convention. This lack of recognition, coupled with the complex and multi-causal nature of migration reasons, makes it challenging to assess how much climate change is influencing new international migration trends and its role as a decisive factor.
With this challenge, we aim to demonstrate/quantify the existence of forced displacements due to climate change, to provide consistency and contribute to the debate surrounding climate change migration.