In the future, more forced migration due to climate change

Climate change-induced disasters will force more people to leave their homes, according to Matthias Schmale, undersecretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

On the sidelines of the 2012 European Development Days, Schmale spoke with Kavita Kalsi of Devex about the World Disasters Report 2012, which focuses on forced migration and displacement. He noted that there are now more than 70 million forced migrants; natural disasters caused the displacement of 20 million.

“What is increasingly on our screen is climate change-induced disasters,” he said, adding that climate change is a phenomenon that will likely grow and bring more disasters.

Watch the conversation between Kalsi and Schmale on the report’s other findings and which countries may suffer the most from climate change-related disasters, part of a series of conversations we video-taped with global development leaders in the center of the action at last week’s EDD.

Check out our complete coverage of European Development Days 2012.