Global issues don’t live in separate boxes. Why no mention in Paris of refugees? | Alexander Betts

A huge effect of climate change is mass migration. But amid the thrust to cut emissions, it was entirely overlooked

While the United Nations climate change talks in Paris struggled to elicit credible commitments, notably missing from the debate was "environmental displacement" - people fleeing their homes on account of natural disaster. As temperatures and sea levels rise, and land-use patterns change, there will be significant consequences for human mobility within and across borders.

However, public and media debate scarcely discussed the issue, and the only references in the Paris summit's negotiated outcome document are vague to the point of meaninglessness. This absence is especially striking in a year in which refugees and migration have otherwise been so high on the political agenda.

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