CLIMATE MIGRATION Responding to the Reality of Climate Displacement Climate-related migration, both internally within countries and across borders, is on the rise due to increased flooding, storms, and temperatures. At present, 1% of the world is a barely livable hotzone. By 2070 that portion could go up to 17%. The issue will increasingly be in the spotlight in 2021 in the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference COP 26 in Glasgow and will continue to gain in urgency. In 2020, the UN Human Rights Committee considered the case of Ioane Teitiota who sought refugee status in New Zealand for himself and his family due to the risks they faced in their Pacific Island home of Kiribati. Sea-level rise caused by global warming was contaminating water supplies and harming agriculture. Overcrowding was causing a housing crisis and leading to violence. In its landmark decision on the case, the Committee set an important precedent by affirming that governments may be prohibited from sending people back to home countries that pose immediate threats to life due to climate change. All business sectors will need to confront the realities of climate-related migration – from finance and insurance, to energy, engineering and construction, to technology. Companies that fail to take comprehensive action on the human impacts of climate change will face growing risks to their longterm sustainability as well as legal action. At the same time, there are opportunities for companies that embrace the need for such action. 2020 World Migration Report calls for measures that ensure: people are enabled to choose whether, when, and with whom to move; access to livelihood opportunities and to remit resources that enhance adaptation; and the ability to move in a dignified, safe, and regular manner. Responses to climate migration must address factors driving people from their homes, including action to reduce emissions, slow the pace and scale of climate events, and enable context-specific just transitions. “ Responses to climate migration must address factors driving people from their homes, and strengthening resilience in the predominantly urban areas where climate migrants move will also be critical. ” Strengthening resilience in the predominantly urban areas where climate migrants move to will also be critical, including non-discrimination and inclusion, decent employment opportunities, and investment in infrastructure and services. The year ahead will likely see more attention to challenges facing climate migrants and the need for human rights approaches as part of responses by governments as well as in corporate operations and supply chains. Policy responses must acknowledge migrants’ agency and the complexity in decisions to move, as well as the differing ability of people to move. The & Human Rights 2021 Business Top 10 Issues Institute for Human Rights and Business 17