Climate change news
Millions to flee climate disasters by 2010, UN warns
In Short:
By 2010, UN experts predict as many as 50m people will flee environmental deterioration caused by climate change. Rising sea levels, expanding deserts and floods are already causing permanent migrations, says a new report.
Brief News:
By 2010, the world will have to cope with as many as 50 million people escaping the effects of environmental deterioration, the UN warned on 12 October, the international day for disaster reduction.
Victims of highly publicised catastrophes like the Asian Tsunami or hurricane Katrina in the US benefit from millions of dollars from private and public funds, note the experts at the UN University for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). But they say millions of people caught up in natural disasters do not receive this kind of support.
Unlike victims of political violence, "environmental refugees" are not yet recognised in international law and may have to be considered as a "new category of refugee" says UNU-EHS Director Janos Bogardi. States' obligations need to be formalised to cope with this new type of refugee, he said.
The statement comes with the opening of a new UN University Chair on "social vulnerability" financed by reinsurance company Munich Re. The UNU Chair will study the effects of "slow moving catastrophes", including "desertification, diminishing safe water supplies and climate change-induced sea level rise".
