‘More people displaced by natural disasters, climate change than conflicts’

A report released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down To Earth said of the new 28 million internally displaced people in 148 countries, 61 per cent were due to disasters.

In comparison, 39 per cent were displaced due to conflicts and violence, as experts believe that by 2050, more than 200 million people will be forced to flee their homes.

These statistics feature in a series of articles on migration in the latest State of India’s Environment Annual, which was released recently at the 2020 Anil Agarwal Dialogue and Annual Media Conclave by Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot in India.

“With increasing intensity and frequency, natural disasters now affect more than half of India’s population, both in rural and urban areas.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, 27 of the 37 states and Union territories are disaster-prone,” the report said.

It added that some 68 per cent of the cultivated land is vulnerable to drought, 58.6 per cent landmass is prone to earthquakes, 12 per cent to floods, 5,700 km of the coastline is prone to cyclones and 15 per cent of the area is susceptible to landslides.

According to the report, the 2011 Census shows that 405 million (or 33 per cent) of the country’s population are on the move, with some 9.9 million people migrating from one state to another every year.

Displacement or rise in migration due to disasters has raised concerns on increasing human trafficking. It is a known fact that in countries like India, there has been clear evidence of linkages between disaster, migration and vulnerability to human trafficking.

Director General of CSE, Sunita Narain said “Remember, climate change impacts are the tipping points as the poor are already living on the margins. Increased inequality is adding to stress; rural economies are dying. Weather-related events will drive people to the point of no return; they will join the hordes of migrants. We know this from the number of illegal settlements in our cities today.”