In my research, I deal with climate-induced migration. This is when the consequences of climate change displace people. The topic is increasingly becoming the focus of media and political attention. But I’m not happy about the way this conversation goes. I do think it is extremely important that we face the reality of climate affected communities in faraway countries. However, an objective discussion of the topic is hardly possible in the current discourse.What is clear, however, is that climate change is already jeopardising the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. Impacts such as droughts, rising sea levels or extreme weather events will make many of them leave their homes one day and start afresh elsewhere.An outlook that is causing political controversy in the Global North: the spectre of excessive climate migration is regularly circulating in the media. There are fears in many places that there will be a massive rush of “climate refugees” to the North.So, the central question is: where do people go when they flee climate change?A real-world laboratory for climate migrationFor the past five years, we have been looking for answers to this question in a Swiss National Science Foundation funded research project in Bangladesh, which is particularly hard hit by climate change. Whether it is due to rising sea levels and the salinisation of groundwater or cyclones and increasingly heavy monsoon rains – in Bangladesh, as if under a burning glass, we can already see what Europe can expect in the years to come: the environment is changing rapidly and is threatening our livelihoods.This can be impressively observed on the Jamuna River. While the water meanders majestically through the landscape in the dry season, something monstrous happens in the rainy season: the river swells dramatically and tears at the sandy soils of its steeply sloping banks. Farmland and settlement areas break off piece by piece, houses and entire villages disappear in the floods.Since 2021, we have been accompanying 1700 families, all of whom were still living on the banks of the Jamuna River at the time. During our most recent visit in spring 2024, we observed that the river had eroded more than 500 metres inland in some places, destroying thousands of homes. Together with local students, I did some detective work for my doctoral thesis to track down all the participants who had to leave their homes.3 What I learnt in the process touched me deeply on a human level – and often surprised me scientifically.Nothing like leavingWe had expected people to turn their backs on this land-devouring force as quickly as possible – but the opposite is the case: those affected remain surprisingly loyal to the river. Even those who have already lost their homes several times usually want to stay in their village at all costs. For many, moving is only a last resort.There are many reasons for this. Some still have a piece of land nearby that they cultivate. Others are held back by
Lun. Dic 23rd, 2024
