Cities in Global South Must Prepare for Climate Migrants

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By 2050, millions of people will seek refuge from the effects of climate change in crowded cities. What can we do to prepare?

Vittoria Zanuso is the executive director of the Mayors Migration Council, a mayor-led coalition that accelerates ambitious global action on migration and displacement. Mark Watts is the executive director of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis. Vittoria and Mark are both members of the Climate Migration Council.

Eight million people on the move, all heading to just 10 major cities in the Global South to escape rising seas, extreme weather and failing agriculture.

That’s the scenario outlined in a new report, released last week, if the climate crisis is allowed to continue.

If the world fails to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement targets of keeping global warming under 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels, cities like Amman in Jordan, Bogotá in Colombia, and Freetown in Sierra Leone, which are already experiencing rapid population growth, will be the destination for tens or even hundreds of thousands of climate migrants.

Already today, 70% of the world’s displaced population lives in urban areas, and one in five international migrants resides in just 20 cities. With the World Bank projecting over 200 million people displaced by climate change by 2050, this trend is only going to increase.

Mayors worldwide are already preparing for this future, aiming to transform migration into an opportunity to build better cities. But they cannot do it alone. Global leaders must step up to help. Here’s what they need to do.

Direct climate financing to cities

Climate financing must go directly to cities. Less than 10% of global climate finance and only 1.2% of humanitarian funding reaches local actors in cities.

For example, Amman, already home to 200,000 Syrian refugees, is projected to receive at least 500,000 climate migrants by 2050 with climate migrants making up a growing share of total new arrivals.

To put this in perspective, Amman will host far more displaced people than Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp, the fourth largest in the world.

National governments and international organisations must direct more climate, development and humanitarian funding to local governments like Amman. This includes ensuring that multilateral funding instruments, like the Loss and Damage Fund, are accessible to city governments and frontline communities.

Break down policy barriers

We need to reduce barriers that prevent migrants from becoming fully included in their new communities. Climate migrants will need access to housing, healthcare, education, and jobs. Cities can ensure services are accessible to all, regardless of legal status or language barriers.

For example, in Bogotá – already home to 600,000 Venezuelan migrants and potentially facing up to another 600,000 climate migrants by 2050 – the Centros Intégrate, launched with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Organization for Migration, provides legal aid, healthcare, education, and employment support while helping migrants apply for work permits.

Colombia’s Temporary Protection Status, which regularises Venezuelan migrants and refugees for 10 years, has also helped migrants get jobs. Taking these steps to remove some of the red tape associated with migration helps communities and their new residents thrive.

Invest in good green jobs for all

C40 mayors have committed to creating 50 million green jobs by 2030. Already 16 million are in place across 74 cities. As cities account for 80% of global GDP (gross domestic product) they offer unparalleled opportunities for migrants and refugees, who are already addressing labour shortages and skill gaps in critical sectors for the green transition, including construction, waste management, and transport.

Cities are stepping up to unlock this potential. Take Freetown, which launched a waste management programme that loans tricycles to migrant-run micro-enterprises. Today, these enterprises have repaid half the tricycle costs, which has attracted further investments from multilateral banks.

This model can be replicated. However, while global institutions have pledged billions for green job creation, most funding goes to national governments rather than cities. This needs to change.

Mayoral participation is vital

Mayors are best positioned to understand the on-the-ground realities of climate migration, because they are the ones experiencing it firsthand.

As world leaders meet to discuss migration at forums like the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, the voices of city leaders must be heard.

The path forward

While climate breakdown is undeniably a crisis, the way in which people adapt to it, including through migration, doesn’t need to become one. Cities can, and do, manage climate-induced migration in a way which strengthens their communities, increases prosperity, and makes their infrastructure more resilient.

But more support is needed right now. Global leaders must provide cities with funding, resources, and recognition. The future of our cities, and the people who will call them home, depends on it.