Climate change will cause "uncontrollable" escalation in migration in South Asia, including India, 3 major international organisations working on the issue warned today.
Ahead of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, which is scheduled to start from Dec 9 in Dhaka in Bangladesh, the study 'Climate Change Knows No Borders' by ActionAid, Climate Action Network South Asia and Bread for the World (Brot Fuer Die Welt) stressed about the devastating and increasing impact of climate change on migration.
The study, which looks at climate change and its impact on migration in South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, also underlined the need for action by all governments of the world to tackle the issue.
It held that the region is particularly vulnerable to climate change events, including droughts, heat waves, cyclones, rising sea levels, heavy rainfall, landslides and floods.
According to the study the study, the need for South Asian governments to monitor the specific impact of 'climate migration' on women and girls is highlighted as a critical concern which the region needs to address.
In May 2016, Cyclone Roanu ripped through Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh causing widespread damage and leaving in its wake reconstruction costs estimated at $1.7 billion.
A month later in 2016, temperatures reached a record-breaking 51 degrees Celsius at Rajasthan in India.
2015-16 brought with it extended drought and crop failure in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and across India. Around 330 million people were affected in India alone and many more across the region.
The Warsaw International Mechanism- Established in 2013.
- Set up by the UN.
- Affirmed by the last round of climate talks at Paris 2015.
- Works for legal protection for people who are forced to migrate or are displaced by climate change.
