Climate change and health: displaced and migrant populations must be included
Authors: Santino Severoni, Lucinda Hiam, Sylvia Garry
Journal: The Lancet (2024)

In November, 2023, the first Health Day was held at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in recognition of the connection between health and climate change. Migration and displacement are inextricably linked to climate change and health, yet current understanding of the climate–migration–health nexus is insufficient.1McMichael C Human mobility, climate change, and health: unpacking the connections.Lancet Planet Health. 2020; 4: e217-e218Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar Climate change is increasingly driving population movement, acting as a driver of and a barrier to migration and as a hazard experienced during journeys or on arrival at new destinations. The scale of migration and displacement due to climate change is vast, with an estimated 24 million people per year being displaced by natural disasters, projected to rise to 1·2 billion people by 2050.2Institute for Economics & PeaceEcological threat register 2020: understanding ecological threats, resilience and peace.https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ETR_2020_web-1.pdfDate: 2020Date accessed: February 8, 2024Google Scholar Communities might migrate in response to the effects of climate change. We should, therefore, acknowledge that migration represents an adaptation strategy and that individuals who migrate must be supported in securing their right to attain the highest standard of physical and mental health. Creating new, safe, and legal migration options for climate-vulnerable communities is, consequently, a crucial adaptation strategy. Governments must begin to cooperate and reach agreements, especially across borders, to protect the rights of people on the move, including their right to health. Building climate-resilient health systems needs to occur in parallel with building health systems that are sensitive to migrant and displaced people. Migrants and displaced populations face many barriers to accessing health services and climate change concurrently presents multiple challenges to these systems, with health systems that are the most vulnerable to climate change often having insufficient financial and human resources to adapt.3WHOWorld report on the health of refugees and migrants. World Health Organization, Geneva2022Google Scholar, 4Romanello M Napoli CD Green C et al.The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms.Lancet. 2023; 402: 2346-2394Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (54) Google Scholar Recognising these inequities and challenges is key to addressing them and finding context-specific solutions. To better understand the challenges of and potential solutions to climate change, health, migration, and displacement and to mobilise support for communities already using migration as an adaptation strategy, several actions are needed. First, further research on the climate–migration–health nexus is necessary.1McMichael C Human mobility, climate change, and health: unpacking the connections.Lancet Planet Health. 2020; 4: e217-e218Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar, 5WHOGlobal research agenda on health, migration and displacement: strengthening research and translating research priorities into policy and practice. World Health Organization, Geneva2023Google Scholar Evidence is essential for the implementation of effective policies and for the provision of information for National Adaptation Plans, which should consider the inclusion of health, migration, and displacement. Second, quality data are needed to understand the scale and complexities of the issue. This is a challenging area (especially regarding the standardisation of terminology); however, it is of utmost priority. Third, research funding must be directed to the countries and communities most impacted by climate change, addressing existing inequities. Finally, a participatory approach is essential. The knowledge, experience, and adaptations already identified by communities facing the daily realities of climate change must drive efforts to find context-specific, local solutions. SS, LH, and SG work at the Department of Health and Migration, WHO headquarters, where SS is the Director. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this Correspondence and these do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy, or views of WHO.