Who will protect people displaced by climate change?
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi: Rich countries’ response to global migration is “to shut down, to separate, to push back”.
Climate change is fast approaching the point of no return.
From extreme heatwaves, wildfires, and drought in the western part of the United States to deadly floods in Nigeria, climate disasters are forcing people to flee from their homelands in search of safety. Estimates predict hundreds of millions will be forced to migrate by 2050.
How are countries and international institutions going to tackle the issue of protecting climate refugees? This week on UpFront, Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, tells Marc Lamont Hill that “in a world that is going towards more displacement … including because of climate,” the response from rich countries has been “wrong in so many different ways”.