Climate Advocacy Group Urges Governments to Establish Climate Displacement Ministries

A new report by advocacy group Displacement Solutions calls on governments everywhere to immediately establish national climate displacement ministries to better tackle the severe and worsening global displacement crisis.

“As bad as the climate crisis may seem today, it will only get worse before it gets better, if it ever gets better. No issue will likely affect more people in more places than climate displacement and we need to prepare for this now,” said the group’s director, Scott Leckie.

“In a world which just witnessed the hottest week ever recorded, where current levels of sea-level rise are far more severe than once thought, where the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has tragically referred to our time as the age of ‘global boiling’ and where millions upon millions of people have already had to move because of the brutal effects of climate change, we need new institutions to address these new problems. There are ways to prevent and resolve climate displacement, but they need solid institutional support to put these solutions into place”, Leckie added.

The report’s release aligns with the adoption ten years ago today of the Peninsula Principles on Climate Displacement Within States, an international set of detailed legal guidelines designed to protect the rights of people forced to leave their homes because of the effects of climate change and to aid governments to better uphold the right of these communities the world over.

“Unfortunately, in the decade since the Peninsula Principles were adopted climate change has worsened far more rapidly than expected, and as a result the global climate displacement situation has deteriorated dramatically”, said Leckie. “While we applaud the many countries that have begun to take the Principles seriously, including those which have modelled their national policies on them, the fight for the rights of climate displaced people has really only just begun”, he added.

The report entitled The Urgent Need for National Climate Displacement Ministries outlines in detail what functions such ministries could take and argues that these new institutions will be indispensable to adequately address the rapidly worsening climate crisis.

“Every government needs to establish a Climate Displacement Ministry today dedicated to protecting the rights of climate displaced people. Current institutions just can’t and won’t cut it”, he said.

About Displacement Solutions:

Displacement Solutions (www.displacementsolutions.org) is a leading human rights organisation dedicated to promoting sustainable development, climate resilience, and social justice. With a diverse network of experts and partners, we work to address pressing environmental and humanitarian challenges, advocating for equitable solutions and empowering communities to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.