The International Organization for Migration’s flagship World Migration Report 2024 highlights a wide variety of factors contributing to global migration, including conflict, economic or political insecurity, and climate change. Between 2020 and 2022 the number of asylum seekers increased more than 30% to 5.4 million people. The report centers climate change’s impact on food security as a core driver of migration. In 2022, 275 million people faced acute food insecurity, which represents a 146% increase since 2016.
In a new Occasional Paper published by the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program and ECSP, journalist Taylor Luck examines the climate priorities of wealthy and middle-income countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Luck analyzes the policies adopted by MENA states, highlighting gaps and offering recommendations to strengthen climate action in a region strained by both instability and climate change.
In Southern Africa, climate change is encouraging rural-to-urban migration that is also creating a public health crisis. Cholera outbreaks have infected 188,000 Southern Africans since 2022, with 4,100 deaths. Zambia currently faces the harshest impacts, with 705 reported deaths and 21,000 infections since October. Its president, Hakainde Hichilema, even called for citizens to move out of cities to prevent the spread of cholera in January—largely due to increasing concern of the diseases’ spread in informal settlements.
Freshwater consumption is growing at a steady rate, driven largely by agriculture, yet roughly 50% of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year. Poor water quality in low-income countries is attributable to low wastewater treatment, whereas in high-income countries, agricultural runoff does the damage. Extreme droughts or heavy rainfall, exacerbated by climate change, also have worsened in frequency and intensity, creating a deepening impact on global water security.
In today’s episode of The Arc, ECSP’s Angus Soderberg and Claire Doyle interview Nisha Singh and Kavin Mirteekhan from Women for Women International. We dive into the organization’s recent report, “Cultivating a more enabling environment: Strengthening women’s resilience in climate-vulnerable and conflict-affected communities,” to hear how women around the world are disproportionately impacted by conflict and climate shocks—and what we can learn from their solutions.
In today’s episode of New Security Broadcast, ECSP Program Director Lauren Risi speaks with Sarah Ladislaw, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Climate and Energy at the National Security Council (NSC). In the conversation, Special Assistant Ladislaw describes her role at the NSC and the most pressing climate security challenges facing the US. She also reflects on her recent address at the Munich Security Conference, and her vision for achieving “mutually assured resilience.”
How effective is the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s work on the fight against climate change? Its Annual Report analyzed the work it has done over the past year to do so. The UNEP supports key areas in which progress has been made, including waste reduction through the Global Framework on Chemicals and global instrument on plastic pollution, biodiversity protection efforts through various frameworks, and loss and damage mobilization through COP28.
October 2023 was the world’s warmest month in history, a fact which underscores the escalation of the climate crisis. It also supports official reports on adaptation and emission gaps which provide pessimistic outlooks for the future of peace in conflict-affected areas.