Environmental Refugees
The Climate Institute published in 1995 the first-ever rigorous assessment of the plight of a growing number of people displaced as a result of environmental problems such as drought, soil erosion, desertification and deforestation. The fast-growing numbers of people who can no longer gain a secure livelihood in their homelands because of these problems are of great concern within regions and also within the international community as a whole.
With Norman Myers as Principal Investigator and assisted by Jennifer Kent, this study, Environmental Exodus: An Emergent Crisis in the Global Arena, has drawn very favorable comment following its initial publication in July 1995.
- 3.3 million people by 2070 from flooding and inundation of settlements in low-lying areas in Indonesia. Jakarta, where excessive pumping of ground water has caused the land to subside alarmingly, is at particular risk, with the prospect of more than a one meter sea level rise by 2070.
- 7.1 million at risk in India
- large-scale displacement in Bangladesh
- submergence of parts of Manila and other areas in the Philippines
- large populations living on river deltas in Viet Nam where nearly 5,000 km of dikes need to be constructed or strengthened
Read Norman Myers' Assessment: "Environmental Exodus: an Emergent Crisis in the Global Arena" (1995)
Norman Myers's Review article in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Environmental refugees: A growing phenomenon of the 21st century (2001) PDF
NEW! Norwegian Refugee Council Report: Future Floods of Refugees: A Comment on Climate, Conflict and Forced Migration (April 2008)