November 14, 2019

U.S. bill calls for climate refugees protections

topic:	Refugees and Asylum
located:	USA
editor:	Yair Oded

Last month, House Democrats introduced a historic bill. The bill seeks to establish a special programme that would accept tens of thousands of climate refugees into the U.S. in addition to the existing programme for asylum seekers. While the bill is unlikely to be signed into law under the current administration, it nonetheless initiates an important discussion around climate-displaced populations, and the growing need for governments to devise plans in order to assist them.

The Climate Displaced Persons Act (CDP), which was introduced by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) would resettle a minimum of 50,000 people displaced by climate-related causes (droughts, wildfires, floods, sea-level rise, etc.) into the U.S. annually, beginning in the next fiscal year. The bill would also direct the White House to compile data on climate-displaced individuals and report on its findings to Congress once a year. The legislation also instructs the State Department to collaborate with other government agencies to establish a Global Climate Resilience Strategy. 

The CDP is a companion legislation to a bill introduced by Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the Green New Deal’s co-sponsor, in the Senate. While a Republican-controlled Senate would be unlikely to pass Markey’s bill, the two pieces of legislation were unveiled in conjunction in order to bolster the Democrats’ attempt to bring the climate crisis into the forefront of the government’s agenda. 

"Despite this administration's efforts to strip the world's most vulnerable populations of refuge, America will continue to stand tall as a safe haven for immigrants," Velázquez said in a statement. "This legislation will not only reaffirm our nation's longstanding role as a home to those fleeing conflict and disasters, but it will also update it to reflect changes to our world brought on by a changing climate."

The CDP seeks to fill a legislative void, as currently no federal programmes or legal provisions exist to address the processing and accommodation of climate refugees.

As the ecological collapse of our planet exacerbates, and human-caused climate change increasingly renders swaths of our planet unlivable, a growing number of people flee their habitats and migrate elsewhere in search of refuge.

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, roughly 24 million people had to flee their homes every year due to harsh weather conditions since 2008. The Centre also concluded that by 2050 this number could rise to up to 1 billion people. 

Despite the fact that a ‘red’ Senate and a Trump White House would, in all likelihood, never allow such a bill to become law (Trump has repeatedly denied the existence of the climate crisis and has significantly decreased the number of refugees permitted to enter the U.S. annually) the CDP nonetheless keeps the conversation alive around this issue, and lays out a potential framework for future administrations to adopt while processing climate refugees. It also highlights the importance of having the governments of the countries largely responsible for the climate emergency to step up and provide support, protection, and relief for the nations and communities affected first and most harshly by it. 

Finally, the CDP reminds us that the refugee and climate crises are inextricably linked, and must therefore be tackled simultaneously.

 
Image: Bonnie Ferrante / Bonnie Ferrante