Due to climate change, more than 1.2 billion people can be displaced in next three decades, finds report

By the year 2050, more than a billion people all around the world stand the risk of getting displaced due to climate crisis and rapid population growth. This estimate has been put forward by a recent report by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a body that develops global terrorism and peace indexes every year. The institute used data from the United Nations and other sources to calculate the exposure to eight ecological threats across 157 countries. After this, they assessed the nations’ capacity to withstand them. [caption id=“attachment_7374021” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Protesters simulate an end-of-the-world flood theme to advocate urgent climate actions. Image courtesy: Greenpeace[/caption] According to a report published by The Guardian, as many as “1.2 billion people lived in 31 countries that are not sufficiently resilient to withstand ecological threats”. The top 19 nations that face the highest number of threats in terms of food and water shortage also happen to be among the world’s 40 least peaceful countries. A total of 141 countries are going to face at least one ecological threat by 2050, the report found. Regions of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa are likely to face the largest number. India has topped the list in terms of water shortage, along with China. Pakistan, on the other hand, is likely to have the largest number of people at risk of mass migration, followed by Ethiopia and Iran. This was because the team thought that “small ecological threats and natural disasters” would be enough to drive displacement of a big chunk of population. Mass displacement will be also triggered by massive population growth. Countries like Nigeria, Angola, Burkina Faso and Uganda will face the most risk in this aspect. Steve Killelea, the founder of IEP, said that developed countries will also suffer from “huge social and political impacts” as displacement will lead to more refugees in those countries. “Ecological threats pose serious challenges to global peace. Over the next 30 years, lack of access to food and water will only increase without urgent global cooperation. In the absence of action, civil unrest, riots and conflict will most likely increase,” he further said.