By Gauri Prashant Dhote
Executive Summary
Research by the World Bank suggests that, by 2050, 216 million people will be forced to leave their homes across the globe. This policy recommendation is dedicated to the Director General (Amy Pope) of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as they are the primary intergovernmental organization under the United Nations (UN) tasked with addressing such issues.
One urgent policy suggestion includes relaxing visa restrictions for climate migrants. Next, to allocate more funds on a global level where developed countries initiate and implement “international finance schemes to reinforce, to support the leadership demonstrated by poorer countries in developing policies” (Higham & Koehl, 2023). The world is currently grappling with unprecedented natural disasters occurring in the remotest corners of the world. The Philippines faced a devastating earthquake in October of 2025, along with “Melissa being the strongest hurricane in modern history to hit the Caribbean islands, and, as it struck Jamaica” (Forster, 2025), ranking among the worst by far. As the planet inches closer to an all-time high temperature of 3 degrees Celsius, urgent action is imperative.
The Central Issue
Bangladesh, a major developing country in South Asia, faces severe natural disasters fueled by climate change. Rising sea levels, frequent patterns of coastal erosion, extreme water shortages, wild cyclones, and massive floods are among the several issues the country encounters - compounded by pervasive poverty and political crisis which makes governing issues of climate-driven migration even tougher.
Kenya provides another poignant example. A majority of the Kenyan population depends on rain-fed agriculture. In the coming years, Kenya will likely witness soaring temperatures, alongside severe drought and catastrophic flooding. Similar cases across the globe, experience trauma and losses across its communities.
Key Stakeholders and interests
There are multiple groups who have a stake in responding to climate change and its implications for migration. Some stakeholders include: “local and indigenous communities, industries and enterprises, urban centers, coastal communities” (Asuncion 2025), NGOs, regional, sub-regional and global organizations. Moreover, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia, are predicted to be the most vulnerable regions, facing the brunt of internal displacement, famine, water scarcity, uninhabitable conditions and deteriorating wellbeing.
Experts predict that as we approach the end of the 21st century, “intense heat and dryness will affect countries extending across North Africa into Egypt and Sudan and northeast to Saudi Arabia, the Levant including Syria, Iraq, and Iran, to parts of India and China in Asia, and across the Southern United States and Mexico” (BLAKE et al., 2021) driving hundreds and thousands away from home.
In Asia, frequent storms, torrential rains, and flooding remain the root cause for “displacement of 14 million individuals each, with Asia and the Pacific being severely affected regions, experiencing substantial human displacement and damage to buildings and infrastructure” (Almulhim et al., 2024).
Furthermore, “since most urban areas in South Asia are in low-lying coastal areas already impacted by sea-level rise due to climate change, meeting the energy needs of these areas becomes increasingly challenging” (Almulhim et al., 2024).
Why This Problem Persists
Despite ongoing efforts by organizations such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), IOM, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Blake et al., 2021), meaningful progress remains elusive.
There is minimal collaboration amongst key actors, and the distribution of structural powers remains scattered, shedding light on structural inequalities. Policymakers appear to work in isolation, which further weakens gathered evidence. “A sociologist studying refugee integration may never interact with an economist analyzing remittance flows or a geographer mapping climate-induced displacement” (Sritharan et al., 2025). Fundamentally what this leads to is further fragmentation of research-backed findings, negatively impacting decision-makers to build on a cohesive body of proof.
Moreover, “negative environmental factors often intersect with political turmoil, bad governance, inequality, poverty, and other risks, creating a generally volatile living situation that people may feel the need to escape” (Villarreal, 2023). Such root causes call for systemic attention and solid reparations.
Preparing and Planning for Climate Migrants
Cities across the globe must view this situation as an opportunity to rebuild social infrastructures rooted in justice and fairness. Investment in public healthcare facilities can help prepare for what is to come through climate migration, including the trauma stemming from loss and relocation.
Actors like the UNFCCC, IOM, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the EU Global Diaspora Facility (Huang, 2023), could invest more of their time and resources in justice. However, it cannot be for temporary gain. It cannot be only for budget reasons. It must include long-lasting solutions that advance climate justice.
Policy Recommendations
The developed world should ease visa restrictions for affected populations. Which also means, “the allocation of permanent visas to countries most likely to experience these disasters before the disaster strikes” (Waters, 2024). This is one way the developed world can compensate for climate damages incurred through industrialization. Additionally, this will create a pathway that will not only address the need of such migrants affected by extreme climate back home but will also bring forth new established legal avenues. While this may sound generous, it is above all else, sustainable. Such mechanisms will enable host countries to adapt to environmental transformations through migration.
Allowing work visas for climate migrants will serve as a powerful catalyst for upcoming migrants and host countries alike. While this strategy will empower those who cannot relocate, it will also support those who need to adapt by providing essential financial remittances. Evidence shows that migrants send back remittances that far surpass the value of international aid, and they actively build welcoming communities that enhance the integration and success of their kind who follow. For host countries, currently with the U.S. and Europe facing a demographic crisis, where fertility rates have dropped impacting the replacement levels, this takes a hit on their economic function. As a result of more aging populations, they need youngsters to occupy and fulfill a huge share of labor shortage, to maintain their GDP per capita and drive financial progress.
Based on the Cancun adaptation clause, environmental migration and subsequent displacement caused by it could be managed by the UNFCCC (Gibb & Ford, 2012) more effectively. With the power vested in a world peace organization like the UN in terms of legitimacy, it could operationalize how climate migrants are recognized and provided humanitarian aid. Above all, the UN is capable of radically reframing the discourse on a challenge this ginormous. They could encourage this phenomenon of relocating, by calling upon “local, national and international institutions to help make mobility a part of the solution” (Gibb & Ford, 2012).
These recommendations, if implemented by 2026, could have significant long-term effects through 2040. However, this demands swift and timely action. Consensus among all stakeholders will take time but is crucial to the success of effectively preparing for climate-induced migration.
Conclusion
Strategists must acknowledge, consider, and recognize distinct migration types, for instance: those fleeing sudden disasters, the ones who choose strategic migration ahead of crisis, populations undergoing managed relocation, and also the “trapped populations” who cannot move despite the fact that their environment is unlivable. From an economic standpoint, “many cities and rural areas throughout Europe and the United States would benefit from migrants to keep their economies afloat” (Waters,2024). On a positive note, when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Buffalo, New York was prepared to welcome disaster-stricken Puerto Ricans in 2017. They proactively recruited people, made them feel home and extended maximum support. Those Puerto Rican migrants, brought skills, paid taxes, revitalized neighborhoods, and ended up strengthened the host nation’s overall economy.
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