Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Harris and I'm the person who's going to be guiding you through today's lesson.

The title of today's lesson is "What is the relationship between climate change and migration?" And it's part of a larger series of lessons called "Why do people move around the world?" By the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to say, "I can explain how migration and climate change are linked." First of all, let's set some ground rules.

Some of the content today might be quite sensitive and so it's really important to understand how we can approach doing that.

So Laura here, she says, "Listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond.

When disagreeing, challenge the statement, not the person." Andeep says, "Respect privacy.

We can discuss examples but do not use any names or descriptions that identify anyone, including ourselves." Izzy says, "Choose your level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or join a discussion.

We never put anybody on the spot." And finally, Jacob says, "No judgement.

We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without fear of being judged." Thank you.

Let's start with some keywords then.

So I'm going to say the keyword, you're going to repeat it back, and then I will tell you the definition.

Climate change.

That's the long-term changes in the Earth's weather patterns and temperatures, often caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and pollution.

Migration.

That's the movement of people from one place to another.

For example, moving from one country to another.

It's time for our first learning cycle called "What is climate change?" Climate change refers to long-term changes in the temperature, rainfall, wind patterns, and other elements of the Earth's climate system.

Now, many scientists agree that human activities, particularly the use of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, that they contribute to these changes that we see.

Now, these activities release something called greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, into the atmosphere.

These gases then trap heat from the sun, which causes the planet to warm up, and this entire effect is referred to as the greenhouse effect.

Now, scientists have told us that there are many effects of climate change.

For example, in many parts of the world there are rising temperatures which can make things like farming, working, and even living more difficult.

There's changing rainfall, which means some areas are getting more rain and more flooding than they've ever had before, while other areas are facing droughts and huge water shortages.

As glaciers and ice sheets are melting, the sea levels are rising, which can flood homes, farmland, and even entire islands.

There's extreme weather, things like storms, heat waves, wildfires, and hurricanes.

These are becoming more frequent and more severe.

And there's an impact on nature, like harm to animals, plants, and entire ecosystems, which can reduce things like food supplies and can damage habitats beyond repair.

A quick check for understanding then.

So which picture below relates to climate change in the form of rising sea levels? Is it A, B or C? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, so which picture relates to climate change in the form of rising sea levels? It's picture C.

Well done if you got that one.

Now, migration is when people move between places and across country borders.

Now, this could be for a huge amount of different reasons, it could be positive reasons or negative reasons.

And it happens in lots of different ways too, including some of the positive reasons for moving, for family, employment, education.

They're all good reasons why people choose to move to other countries or other parts of the country.

There are also negative reasons, things like if there's conflict or war, natural disasters and political unrest.

These things are negative reasons why people may have to move from the place that they live.

In most cases, though, whether it's positive or negative, the goal of the people moving is to find a more positive, a more stable or more hopeful life and lifestyle for themselves and their families.

Now, we can categorise the reasons why people migrate in two main ways, and one of those ways is pull factors.

So these are factors that encourage or attract people to come to another country, so it sort of pulls them in to do that.

That's things like good education, good employment opportunities, family or a really good lifestyle, something that they want to have in their life.

And the opposite of it then, the opposite pull factor is a push factor, and they're factors that encourage or force people to leave a country.

And this is the negative side of migration for people, when they have to move because of conflict, because of natural disasters, political unrest or maybe persecution, so when they're being victimised for something.

In some cases people will migrate due to both push and pull factors.

So for example, if a person is living in a place where employment opportunities are very poor, they might move to a country or an area of their country which has very good employment prospects, or they have a lifestyle which is really good that they would like to move to.

So it's a push factor but also a pull factor to take them to a certain place or a part of the world that they would like to live.

So how might we describe the different reasons to migrate then? Well, we can kind of put them into different categories.

For example, there could be economic reasons to migrate, so due to financial reasons.

There might be lifestyle reasons, a type of life that they want to be able to have a part of.

For example, being outside more often.

It might be for retirement reasons, people might move abroad once they've finished work and want to live out the rest of their days in the kind of lifestyle that they want.

It could be for education reasons.

Students move abroad all the time or to further their education, and moving to another country might be the way forward for them.

There's also people who are refugees and asylum seekers, so that's people who have to leave for safety reasons and so they will move to find that safety.

It could be internally displaced people, so that's people who move from the place that they live but stay within the same country.

So natural disasters might force somebody to move from one area of the country to a different area of the country which is safer, for example, but without crossing international borders.

And finally, we've got a type of one called a climate migrant.

Now, climate change is becoming a growing reason for people to migrate, which makes it a push factor, and a significant one at that.

Another check for understanding then.

Can you complete the sentence by adding the missing words? So we've got two missing words here.

"Mm-mm is becoming a growing reason to migrate, making it a significant push factor." Which two words can fill in that sentence? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, which two words are they? Well, then, "Climate change is becoming a growing reason to migrate, making it a significant push factor." Well done if you got that one.

Climate change can cause environmental changes that make it harder or impossible sometimes for people to actually stay where they live.

For example, some of the reasons could be more frequent and severe heat waves leading to higher temperatures.

Melting ice and rising sea levels which threaten entire coastal communities and ecosystems. It could be due to extreme weather events like increases in hurricanes, droughts, heavy rainfall, which can lead to natural disasters.

It could be due to things like ocean acidification, resulting in increased carbon dioxide levels, which affects the marine life.

There could be ecosystem disruption, which means some species are facing entire extinction due to habitat loss and changing environmental conditions, which makes people have to move out of the area for the effects that that has on them, perhaps for life or through working.

Climate change can impact humans in terms of things like health, which could affect the spread of diseases, food security, access to clean water.

It could be an economic impact on agriculture.

So farming, maybe fisheries, or the tourism industry, which are all vulnerable to a changing climate and extreme weather events, they can all have a really big impact on those.

Humans could be affected through migration and displacement, so things like rising sea levels or extreme weathers that can make entire areas uninhabitable, so unlivable, which then forces people to have to relocate.

Another check for understanding.

Can you match the effect of climate change to its impact? So we've got number one, spreads diseases.

Number two, affects fisheries.

Three, areas are uninhabitable.

And the ones to match that to are economic impact, migration and displacement, and human health.

Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, so number one, spreads diseases, that fits with human health, that's the impact on that.

Number two, affecting fisheries, that has an economic impact because people can't fish, they can't sell, so therefore their livelihood is affected.

And number three, areas are uninhabitable fits with migration and displacement for its impact on humans there.

Well done for forgetting those ones.

And we're on to Task A.

So can you choose the correct words to complete the sentences? And here in the word bank we've got the words migrating, weather, homes, push, choice, water, food, and temperatures.

I'm going to read the paragraph to you and your job is going to be putting those words into the correct places to complete the sentences.

"Climate change is a growing reason why people are forced to move.

Rising mm and more extreme mm, such as heat waves, droughts, and hurricanes, can make life much harder.

These events may destroy mm, damage crops, and reduce access to clean mm and reliable mm supplies.

When it becomes too dangerous or difficult to stay, people may have no mm but to migrate.

Climate change is known as a mm factor because it makes people want or need to leave where they live.

Even though not everyone who moves is crossing borders, more and more people are mm because of changes to the climates around them." A really good idea now is to pause the video to give yourself the time to do this task, and then we'll come back and check the answers together.

Okay, let's have a look at these answers then.

So your answers should look something like this.

"Climate change is a growing reason why people are forced to move.

Rising temperatures and more extreme weather, such as heat waves, droughts, and hurricanes, can make life much harder.

These events may destroy homes, damage crops, and reduce access to clean water and reliable food supplies.

When it becomes too dangerous or difficult to stay, people may have no choice but to migrate.

Climate change is known as a push factor because it makes people want or need to leave where they live.

Even though not everyone who moves is crossing borders, more and more people are migrating because of changes to the climate around them." Brilliant job if you got all of those in the correct spaces, fantastic.

It's time for our second learning cycle, "How does climate change impact migration?" When people are forced or choose to migrate because of environmental changes caused by climate change, they are known as climate migrants.

They may move within their own country, so they're internal migrants.

For example, a farming family might choose to migrate from a drought-hit village to a city where there might be more job opportunities for them.

Climate migrants might also move to another country, so they're cross-border migrants or international migrants.

For example, a person from a low-lying island nation which has been flooded, they migrate abroad because their home and their livelihood and their life is at risk by rising sea levels.

Some climate migrants might migrate temporarily, so just for a short space of time, whereas others might make permanent moves.

A check for understanding then.

Label these images with the type of migrant they represent.

So there we have the first image, and that is which kind of migrant? And then the second image is which kind of migrant? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, so the top image then, that represents internal migrants, so migrants staying within their own country, the country that they live, but moving to a different area.

And the bottom image represents cross-border migrants or international migrants who move out of the country that they live.

Well done if you got those ones.

We're gonna look at some case studies now and the first one is about drought.

Between 2006 and 2011, Syria experienced one of the worst droughts in its entire history.

And there we have an image of drought where you can see the ground is very, very dry and it's cracked from lack of rain.

Now because of this, crops failed, livestock died, and it left many, many rural families without a way to survive.

And because of this, around 1.

5 million people migrated from the countryside to cities in order to find safe homes and employments.

And this puts so much extra pressure on things like housing, jobs, and resources in the urban areas.

The image on your screen now is showing desertification.

Now, in the Sahel region, which includes Niger, Mali, and Chad, climate change is leading to ongoing desertification where land that used to be able to grow crops in it, it used to be fertile, it's become dry and unable to support farming and the livestock that goes with it.

And that can mean that people who rely on farming and herding animals can no longer earn a living.

And that forces many to have to migrate to cities or across borders in search of work, food, and safety.

It can also lead to conflict over land and water, especially between farmers and herders, as they all try to take smaller areas of land that are still fertile because such huge areas of land are no longer able to support farming and livestock.

Another area to look at is heat waves and wildfires.

Countries like Italy, Greece, and Portugal are experiencing more and more frequent and intense heat waves and wildfires, and all of these regions were particularly affected in 2021 and 2022.

Extreme heat and drought make farming so much more difficult.

Wildfires are destroying homes and forcing people to have to evacuate temporarily, so move out of the area.

More often now people are migrating from the countryside, where wildfires tend to have a bigger impact, to the cities.

So they're moving from high-risk areas to safer regions because the wildfires are now making them feel unsafe.

And then we have a negative of rising temperatures, which can also then increase energy costs to keep people cool and to keep things working, which can then make the cities harder to live in.

So people are moving from the countryside to the cities, but the cities are also affected by things like rising temperatures as well.

Another check for understanding.

So which of these pictures represents desertification found in areas like the Sahel region? We have A, B, and C.

Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, so the picture which represents desertification found in areas like the Sahel region is picture B.

Yes, and so A is representing drought, so lack of water, and C is representing wildfires and rising temperatures.

Well done if you got that one.

We're now going to take a more detailed look at sea level rises and we're going to be focusing on Kiribati.

Now, Kiribati is a group of 33 low-lying islands in the Central Pacific Ocean.

Most land there is less than two metres above sea level, which means even the slightest increases in sea levels make the islands extremely vulnerable to things like flooding and storm surges.

Now, interestingly enough, the Pacific Island nations are the least responsible for climate change, yet they are the ones are facing some of the worst effects of it.

Now, problems that Kiribati are having to do with climate change are things like king tides.

Now, these are really, hugely high spring tides which can reach up to three metres high.

These are regularly flooding homes, roads, and schools, and the higher sea levels are meaning that they're reaching further inland, and then this flooding is damaging buildings, is contaminating the freshwater supplies, and is increasing the risk of waterborne diseases as well.

Water contamination is a really big problem because that is also contributing to higher infant mortality rate, which is the number of young child deaths.

Kiribati relies on freshwater, which is just beneath the surface, and that's for their drinking water.

And so when you get the seas rising up, that's causing the salt water to seep into these freshwater supplies, which then makes the water undrinkable and it also harms the crops as well.

When it's harming the crops, that means it's also having an impact on food production as well.

Land is also being lost to the sea bit by bit, and in some areas coastlines have retreated back several metres in recent decades.

And as this arable land is disappearing, the land that they can grow things on, it's becoming harder for people to grow food and find things like safe housing.

So, because people can't use this land, that's leading to overcrowding and serious arguments as well over land, especially in the capital city of Kiribati.

In 2011, a citizen of Kiribati called Ioane Teitiota moved with his wife and his children to New Zealand and they were seeking a safer environment and a better future for him and his family.

He applied there for asylum, and that's applied for safety, because sea levels rising in Kiribati had made it so unsafe to live there and that he said they had no choice but to move and that they were climate refugees.

However, New Zealand's immigration system rejected their claim because the legal definition of a refugee doesn't include threats from climate change and actually only includes threats from war, persecution and violence, for example.

Ioane and his family made several appeals, but they failed.

And unfortunately, in 2015, he was deported back to Kiribati and it was decided that their lives were not under immediate threat, despite the clear difficulties that Ioane and his family were facing.

A check for understanding then.

Ioane Teitiota, a citizen of Kiribati, was allowed to permanently migrate to New Zealand under the classification of climate refugee.

Is that true or false? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, this is false.

He was not allowed to permanently migrate to New Zealand under this classification, but why? Why was that not the case? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, so the reason why was because New Zealand's immigration system rejected his claim.

The legal definition of a refugee doesn't include threats from climate change, and so Ioane and his family were deported back to Kiribati in 2015 despite the difficulties that they were facing.

Well done if you got that one.

Despite the fact that Ioane's legal case didn't succeed, it did help in becoming a really important case around the world because it raised certain issues, and some of these are that it highlighted a gap in international refugee law.

So where can citizens go if their lives are genuinely at risk from climate change if international law doesn't recognise it? And that's one of the debates that people are having now.

It raised awareness and it raised lots of global attention to people being displaced by climate change.

As I've said, some of these debates that are going on, it's now lawyers in different countries are looking at the laws and seeing if refugee laws should include environmental reasons.

His case also helps recognise that climate change does represent a really serious threat to the right for life, and therefore the decision-makers making these laws need to take this into account and the severity of the impact of climate change upon people.

If people do have to move because of climate change, they might face certain difficulties that other migrants might not even have to face, and these might include things like a lack of legal recognition.

So the 1951 Refugee Convention, it only protects people legally fleeing persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership of a social group, or political opinion, and it doesn't cover environmental reasons.

So that's the legal side of it.

So that means people being forced to migrate because of things like droughts, floods, or sea level rises, like the people of Kiribati, they don't often have the same rights or protections as other refugees might do, and their cases, their legal cases, become so hard to prove in court because countries are not legally required to accept them or to accept the reasons that they're giving, however valid they are.

Other difficulties that climate migrants might come across are financial pressures and hardship.

So because many climate migrants come from regions that already have problems, that are already economically vulnerable, when their land isn't able to be lived on anymore, when their businesses aren't able to be used anymore due to things like rising seas, extreme heat or failed crops, they're gonna lose their income and they might lose their homes as well.

So when they come to move, they've got nothing to sell to be able to afford the move.

Relocating to new places costs a lot of money.

Even if it's only 10 miles up the road, it still costs a lot of money.

And relocating to a new country can be very, very expensive.

And if migrants don't have that income to be able to support their move, then they're going to be facing difficulties there.

As well as that, moving to new countries, you often have to prove your income or your finances and you have to prove that you have a job before you move.

And for people who were experiencing those difficulties, finding work in a new place might not be easy.

They might not be able to prove their income or prove how much money that they've got, especially if they can't sell homes or businesses to make money.

Sometimes as well they might face discrimination, and things like financial pressures and discrimination and those impacts on people when they're moving can continue to impact them long after they've moved away.

Other difficulties might be things with housing, jobs and schooling.

When climate migrants are settling in new areas, especially in cities, they can come across problems like overcrowded housing, very expensive housing, and also very long waiting lists to find accommodation.

Employment might be quite low paid or it might be informal, which means there's no regular hours.

Things like schooling can be disrupted, especially if children don't speak the language of the country that they're moving to, or there might not be enough places in schools.

And for some migrants it might mean that they end up living in temporary accommodation and sometimes it might not even be so safe and they might end up there for long periods of time.

So what's the future for places like Kiribati and other Pacific Islands? Well, they're having to adapt in some ways.

So, adapting by things like building sea walls and planting mangroves, so mangroves are trees that can live in salty conditions, they are being planted to try and protect the coastlines.

They're raising homes by building them on stilts.

They're trying to do things like improve a water storage to try and keep it away from the salt water that might contaminate it.

And also trying to change farming techniques to be able to start growing food in salty or dry conditions.

It might involve more relocations, so some communities are already moving inland or to different islands.

And there might be cross-border migrations, so people moving out of the country entirely.

Some citizens have already migrated as regular migrants rather than refugees.

And the Kiribati government has even started buying land in Fiji in case they suddenly have to relocate many, many people in one go.

There is now as well a global push for legal changes, so there are many, many more campaigns now to help recognise climate change refugees in international law so then it becomes part of the convention and then legally recognise that people do need help and they do need safety as a result of climate change.

Another check for understanding then.

So why do many people forced to move because of climate change not qualify as refugees under current international law? Is it because, A, they choose to migrate for work or education so they don't need support? Is it because, B, their countries are not officially recognised by the United Nations? Is it C, because the 1951 Refugee Convention does not include environmental reasons? Or is it D, because they can always return home after the climate improves? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, so many people forced to move because of climate change, they don't qualify as refugees under current international law because C, the 1951 Refugee Convention does not include environmental reasons.

Well done if you got that one.

And now we're on to Task B, our final task of this lesson.

So the task for this one then, part one is to map each environmental impact from climate change to the correct case study.

So we have A, sea level rising and flooding; B, desertification; C, drought and failed crops; and D, heat waves and wildfires.

And the ones to match those two are Syria, the Sahel region, Kiribati, or Italy, Greece, and Portugal.

Pause the video to give yourself the time to do that and then we'll check the answers together.

Okay, let's check these answers then.

So A, sea level rising and flooding matches with Kiribati.

B, desertification matches with the Sahel region.

C, drought and failed crops matches with Syria.

And D, heat waves and wildfires is Italy, Greece, and Portugal.

Fantastic job if you managed to match those four correctly.

Let's move to the second part of this task.

Now the second part of this task is to discuss the following question with a partner or consider it yourself.

So why might climate migrants struggle more than other migrants when moving to a new place? And in response to this, I'd like you to write one paragraph to summarise your discussion or your thoughts.

Take the time now, pause the video, give yourself the time to do the task, and then we'll come back and look at some possible responses.

Okay, let's have a look at some responses then.

Two, why might climate migrants struggle more than other migrants when moving to a new place? So your answer might have included ideas such as these.

"Climate migrants might face more challenges than other migrants because they're not legally recognised as refugees.

The 1951 Refugee Convention protects people fleeing persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership of a social group, or political opinion, but it doesn't recognise those forced to move due to natural disasters.

This means countries are not required to accept them or to provide support.

Many climate migrants may also come from areas where their homes, farms, or livelihoods have been damaged, which can leave them with fewer resources to move or to start over.

It can be especially difficult if they experience unfair treatment or discrimination in the new place that they move to." Well done if you've managed to include some of those really important reasons of why climate migrants might be affected in different ways than other migrants, well done.

It's time to summarise our lesson now which is being called, "What is the relationship between climate change and migration?" Climate change leads to rising temperatures, more extreme weather events, melting ice, rising sea levels, and changes to ecosystems. These changes can affect human health, food and water supplies, and people's ability to live in certain areas.

As a result, climate change is becoming a growing push factor for migration, forcing people to leave their homes in search of safety, stability or resources.

Some people migrate temporarily or permanently within their own country, whilst others cross international borders.

Climate refugees are not recognised by law and many face difficulties of attempting to migrate, such as a lack of legal protection, financial hardship, and struggles with housing, jobs, and schooling.

Well done for sticking with me during the lesson today.

There's been some really sensitive content and lots of things to consider.

I'm really proud of you for getting to the end with me, thank you.

Hope to see you again soon.