The World Bank is warning that unchecked climate change could lead 216 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050. Some experts think governments should encourage people toward climate-resilient hubs that are capable of handling the influx.
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The bank’s new report, “Groundswell Part 2,” finds that as early as 2030, some countries could see the emergence of migration “hotspots” — cities that will experience either a large influx or outflux of migrants as a result of climate change impacts.
In North Africa, water scarcity and availability will be a driving force. In the lower Mekong region, sea level rise and storms could compel people to leave low-lying areas for already-growing urban areas. The report finds that climate change could accelerate migration trends that are already underway.
Some experts have suggested that planners could look to resilient secondary cities as potential destinations for climate migrants, Shabtai Gold reports. “The idea is that the government could identify climate-resilient and migrant-friendly cities closer to stressed regions that could act as new alternative economic hubs able to provide key services, such as education, housing, health care, and sanitation,” the report reads.
The first imperative, however, is to cut greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. In doing so, the bank finds that projected internal migration could be reduced up to 80%.
Read: Climate change could internally displace 216M people, World Bank warns
Farm follows functions
Anca Gurzu reports for Devex that even as food and agriculture have risen on the climate change agenda, one key group could be missing from the discussion: farmers.
“Farmers are busy working the land, feeding themselves, and our communities. In November, it's harvest time for many. … They don't have time or the means to go to COP,” says Patty Fong of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.
Read: Small farmers say they're overlooked in climate talks
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A place at the table
The World Food Programme had the second highest procurement volume among U.N. agencies in 2020. Who is it buying from? For Devex Pro subscribers, my colleagues Miguel Tamonan and Janadale Coralde take a look at WFP’s biggest partners.
Devex Pro: World Food Programme’s top 10 suppliers in 2020
+ Devex Pro subscribers can also learn more about how the U.N. spent its $22.3B budget in 2020. Not yet a Pro subscriber? Sign up now and start your 15-day free trial.
New and improved?
International donors pledged more than $1 billion in humanitarian funding for Afghanistan on Monday, though it was not clear how much of that is new money, Will Worley and Shabtai Gold report. The international summit organized by the U.N. sought $600 million for a flash appeal as the country grapples with economic and food security crisis.
U.N. chief António Guterres said the international community must have some engagement with the Taliban, which he said has shown an “attitude of support" toward humanitarian aid.
Also on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the Biden administration’s troop withdrawal and civilian evacuation from Afghanistan in the face of harsh criticism — and calls for his resignation — from Republican lawmakers.
Sara Jerving reports that the World Health Organization landed its first shipment of medical supplies at Kabul airport since the Taliban takeover. Hundreds of metric tons of supplies intended for Afghanistan have been stranded at WHO’s hub in Dubai.
“As health needs increase in Afghanistan, we must move quickly to address the shortages in medical supplies to keep life-saving health services running,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus writes in a press release.
Read: Guterres warns Afghanistan faces ‘dramatic humanitarian crisis’
ICYMI: WHO lands first plane in Taliban-controlled Kabul
Backsliding
“The thing with ... vaccination is that it is something that you can catch up on.”
— Mark Suzman, CEO, Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationThe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released its fifth annual Goalkeepers report Monday, Stephanie Beasley reports. It calls for investments in health systems that can serve as “the foundation for emergency disease response,” worrying that for high-income countries, COVID-19 will become “yet another disease of poverty.”
Read: Gates Foundation pushes vaccine investment as COVID-19 derails SDGs
In other news
Resettlement of 12,000 evacuated Afghans in the U.S. could be delayed after at least four people tested positive for measles. [Politico]
The U.S. and China have reached an agreement to keep Myanmar's military rulers from speaking at this year's U.N. General Assembly, delaying the junta's move for legitimacy there. [Foreign Policy]
U.N. chief Guterres has named Jordan's Sima Sami Bahous as UN Women’s new executive director. [UN News]
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
