Posts tagged Bethany Tietjen
Climate Impacts on Migrants and the Urban Poor in Sub-Saharan African Cities

Cities around the world are confronting the increasing frequency and severity of disasters due to climate change, and it is the urban poor who are most affected. Globally, urban informal settlements (so-called “slum areas”) are expanding rapidly, in part because of rural to urban migration. The environmental and public health challenges these settlements face are exacerbated by climate impacts like flooding and extreme heat. In an article in the Journal of Climate Resilience and Climate Justice, we explore environmental problems in informal settlements in two African cities: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Kampala, Uganda.

Read More
Defining Climate Migration

Section six of the new Biden Administration directive on “Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs to Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration” orders the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA) to prepare and submit to the president a report on climate change and its impact on migration, with an eye to informing the administration on the international security dimensions of climate-related migration. The order includes studying “mechanisms” for identifying individuals displaced directly or indirectly from climate change and considering options for their protection and/or proposals for how findings on climate migration might inform U.S. foreign assistance programs. The report will cover opportunities to work with international organizations, non-governmental organizations, or localities trying to respond to such migration. It is a huge but important task. The President gave his team 180 days.

Read More