The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) notes that “since AR5 [the fifth assessment report of 2014] there is increased evidence that climate hazards associated with extreme events and variability act as direct drivers of involuntary migration and displacement and as indirect drivers through deteriorating climate-sensitive livelihoods”.

Whether the main driver or an additional driver, the result has been an increase in the movement of people, with the IOM (International Organization for Migration) estimating that there were around 281 million international migrants in the world in 2020, which equates to 3.6 per cent of the global population, 128 million more than in 1990 and over three times the estimated number in 1970.

Both sudden-onset climate hazards, such as floods, and slow-onset climate hazards, such as rising sea levels, have impacts, not least on food product and security. As a result, another major element of human mobility is being added to the other rteaso9ns for migration.

From all the causes (conflict, violence, political or economic instability as well as climate change and other disasters) increasing numbers of people are being displaced, within and out of their country of origin. In 2022, there were 117 million displaced people in the world, and 71.2 million internally displaced people. The number of asylum-seekers has risen from 4.1 million in 2020 to 5.4 million in 2022, an increase of more than 30 per cent.

---