Planned migration can be 'win-win' for climate displacement and labor shortages

Climate change is already causing monumental damage to the planet with the displacement of people a huge concern.

Sea level rises will affect coastal communities, particularly in many low-lying islands found in the Pacific, as well as reducing freshwater availability on those islands. Extreme weather events such as storms, cyclones, floods, droughts and heatwaves will only exacerbate these issues.

While Amy Pope, the director general for International Organization for Migration is alarmed at how events are unfolding in some countries, planned migration could be one answer. Pope went to Dubai for COP28, and discussions at the latest climate summit in UAE and seeing up-close potential long-term solutions have given her some hope.

"Over the last year, we've seen over 20 million people displaced by climate related disasters and we know the number actually could be much higher," Pope told CGTN Europe. "Hundreds of millions of people live in extremely vulnerable communities when it comes to climate shock.

"We know the Pacific Islands is one of the regions that is an extremely vulnerable coastal state, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and states across Asia. All of these countries are already vulnerable because of economic conditions, because of conflict risk, and there could be significant displacement as a result of climate change.

"But there are some really good examples that provide a model for what planned migration could look like. So just a couple of weeks ago, the government of Tuvalu, a small island nation in the Pacific Islands, signed an agreement with Australia to allow for the living and working of its nationals there. 

"That kind of planned mobility is one of the things we could see more governments use to respond to the impact of climate change. We're seeing conversations like that happen in the Caribbean states. We're seeing conversations about that happen across some of the states in Africa. 

"The more that we can build on planned, strategic, very constructive migration to support communities that would otherwise be displaced, the better outcomes we'll get."

The Pacific region is experiencing an approximate increase of 4mm of sea level rise annually in certain regions, which is higher than the worldwide average of 3.4 mm per year, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Concerning policies that could help cope with these damning statistics, Pope added: "We need to build climate mobility, migration into national strategies for developing countries, for countries more at risk to look at migration as a way to help communities adapt in some instances. 

"For countries, particularly those with existing labor shortages, we need to look at migration, identifying those in particular who are vulnerable to climate shocks as a way to help them address their existing and emerging labor needs. So there's an opportunity for a win-win solution here."

Observational data, measuring the impact of climate change and predicting weather patterns will be at the core of helping to steer such strategies with planned migration.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is already at the center of such observations, and is funding a feasibility study to put space-based solar satellites in orbit by the year 2040 to further boost observation.

Simonetta Cheli, director of Earth Observation programs at the ESA, said: "We explain to decision makers like those who come to COP the relevance of using EU data as observational data, satellite data to monitor all what is related to climate.

"These variables, which are the indicators associated to climate evolution and climate change, which relate, for example, to sea level rises or deforestation. In terms of containing temperature levels, we don't have good elements of information. Actually, it's not going in the right direction. 

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"We also have some quite strong messages which go in the right direction. For example, methane is a big topic here at COP28 and you can do a lot to support methane monitoring leaks from pipelines through satellites.

"We see legislation not just at the level of the EU, but at the level of many countries in the world, using for the implementation and monitoring of the legislation, satellite data and really looking at an enforcement of these legislations which are associated with climate topic."

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