Costs of climate inaction: displacement and distress migration

Published in December 2020, this report was written by members of the Climate Action Network South Asia (a coalition of groups in the region) and ActionAid. It highlights the need for immediate measures to reduce current and future displacement as well as distress migration due to climate change in five South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.The report notes that about 37 and 63 million people will be displaced in these countries by the years 2030 and 2050 – even if they achieve their greenhouse gas mitigation goals. This can be limited to around 22 and 34 million people if countries meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to between 1.5 and 2 °C by then. (The Agreement is a legally binding treaty adopted at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015.)Climate change has sudden and immediate manifestations such as increased flooding and storms, as well as long-term ones like desertification and rising sea levels. It severely impacts settlements and economies in vulnerable areas, especially women, young people, and poor and marginalised communities. By 2050, climate change is expected to cause a two per cent drop in the gross domestic product of countries in South Asia.The 37-page report contains eight chapters: Executive Summary (chapter 1); Climate change impacts (chapter 2); The impacts of migration (chapter 3); The need for climate action in the Global North (chapter 4); Strengthening resilience and the right to stay (chapter 5); Planned migration and the right to move (chapter 6); Global South transitioning to greener pathways (chapter 7); and Conclusions and recommendations (chapter 8).