From "climate refugees" to "climate change-induced displacees"?

See IRIN's "Good news for climate change migrants" for an update on discussions in Copenhagen. Apparently, there is agreement on "the need to consider planned relocation for people displaced by climate change, with 'interstate cooperation' to respond to their needs."

The article also notes that the "term 'climate refugees' was first mentioned in the adaptation text at talks in Bonn, Germany, in June. The term has been dropped, but the need to help people who 'either cross an international border as a result of, or find themselves abroad and are unable to return owing to, the effects of climate change' has gained prominence." The new term under consideration to refer to such people is "climate change-induced displacees."

Worldbridge, Refugees International's blog, had an interesting post on the increased use in the media of the phrase "climate refugees." Noting that under international law one cannot be termed a "refugee" when natural disaster is the cause of flight, the author ponders possible alternatives and their acronyms: "People displaced by climate change (PDCCs)? Climate displaced people (CDPs)? People affected by climatic events (PACEs)?".

In contrast, an article I referenced earlier in the year highlights the fact that in Tuvalu and Kiribati, two Pacific nations under great pressure from climate change, there is a "a wholesale rejection of the 'refugee' label, at both the political and community levels."

[Photo credit: Mirwais Bezhan/IRIN]

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