Today is World Refugee day. A day to focus worldwide attention on the the estimated 40 million people world wide uprooted by violence and persecution. But there is also a new kind of refugee. The climate refugee. In the words of Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees:
Climate change and environmental damage lie behind increasingly frequent natural disasters with dramatic human consequences. Different models of the impact of climate change all present a worrying picture of human displacement. East Africa offers a stark example. All predictions are that desertification will expand steadily, making it difficult for people to earn a living and provoking further migration. All of this is happening in the absence of international capacity and determination to respond.