The publication last week of the New York Times’ article Resettling the Countries First Climate Refugees hopefully at long last brings home the stark reality that rising sea levels are already severely impacting real estate in the United States.
The award of $48 million for relocating residents of Louisiana’s Isle de Jean Charles is part of a $1 billion grant to 13 states to assist them in adapting to climate change. The other states include New York, Tennessee, Louisiana, Iowa, Connecticut, Virginia, California, Massachusetts, and North Dakota.
"The communities awarded funding through the Competition – and in fact all those that competed – today have a greater awareness of their vulnerabilities and strengths and what they need to do to be ready for whatever comes their way,” said Dr. Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “This is the heart of resilience." The Rockefeller Foundation partnered with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in this National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC).
The news that Native American tribes in Louisiana are on track to receive the first “climate resilience” grant isn’t the first indication of how the ocean is swallowing up chunks of America. Since 2011, for example, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working to help relocate 350 Yupik Eskimo families from coastal Newtok, Alaska, a town they predict will be totally submerged by next year.
Domesticating An International Beast
According to the London-based Environmental Justice Foundation, climate change has already forced the migration of 26 million people globally.
That number is expected to expand to become the largest global migration in the history of mankind, with up to 200 million people displaced by 2050.
That’s 35 years from now.
The statistics are staggering.
A few examples:
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The Solomon Islands: a small town is already preparing to relocate to a nearby island
- China: rising seas, erosion and infertile soil will force 30 million people to relocate
- India: 70,000 of 1.4 million Brahmaptura delta residents risk becoming homeless by 2020
- Bangladesh: Within 50 years, Bangladesh is expected to have up to 30 million climate refugees
- The United States: more than 180 native communities in Alaska could disappear completely due to accelerating glacier melt.
The most common face of a climate refuge is and will continue to be female.
A recent Oxfam report on climate change and women details the complex interplay of factors which elevate the possibility that women from the world’s poorest communities are most at risk from climate related disasters.
They are traditionally excluded from disaster risk reduction and preparedness activities, despite the fact that their experience farming, collecting water and fuel and serving as caretakers provide them with invaluable knowledge and skills.
... socially constructed roles and responsibilities usually put women at a disadvantage in preparing for climate change. Women have less access to resources, are frequently unable to swim or leave the house unattended, and are less likely to migrate to look for shelter and work when a disaster hits. Statistically, women (and children) are more likely to die than men during disasters. Oxfam FactSheet
“A lot of people do not understand the links between women’s rights and climate change,” says Eleanor Blomstrom, program director at the Women’s Environment & Development Organization. “We often talk about it in terms of gender gaps and climate change impacts, and those [climate] impacts exacerbate existing [gender] inequalities.”
The relocation of women after disasters has severe impacts on social support networks, family ties, and coping capacity. Hurricane Katrina created an acute affordable housing shortage throughout the Gulf Coast region, but especially within the city of New Orleans; over 83 percent of poor, single mothers were displaced. Because of this shortage, many women and girls have been unable to return home or must now share accommodations with extended family members or acquaintances. WEDO Climate Change & Women Factsheet.
Former UNFCCC Director Christiana Figueres notes that women suffer most when natural disasters occur, often because of cultural mores which dictate their rights.
“Whether in developing countries or in developed countries, women stand at the front lines in the battle against climate change: as providers of water, food, and energy or as leaders in businesses, communities and politics,”
she writes. “Women are in a unique position to recognize some of the opportunities that climate change provides.”
Women comprise at least half of world migrant populations, but their needs are not prioritized in migration policies
Women often lack resources to move, but post-disaster may lack resources to cope at home
Forced migration could exacerbate women’s vulnerability and lack of access to resources and livelihood options. Women at the Forefront. UNFPA