50 million 'will flee environmental degradation'

There will be as many as 50 million environmental refugees in the world in five years' time.

That is the conclusion of experts at the United Nations University, who say that a new definition of 'environmental refugee' is urgently needed.

They believe that already environmental degradation forces as many people away from their homes as political and social unrest.

"In poorer rural areas especially, one of the biggest sources of refugees is land degradation and desertification, which may be caused by unsustainable land use interacting with climate change, amplified by population growth," he told the BBC.

"A second issue is flooding, caused I would say by increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere super-imposed with probably some natural fluctuations."

The projected figure of 50 million is derived from a number of previous reports, including the 1999 World Disasters Report from the International Red Cross.

Links:

UNU-EHS
UNHCR - the UN refugee agency
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies