The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) releases annual statistics on climate change for the previous year and the year to come. According to their recent report, 51.2 million people were displaced by climate change last year, and the number is projected to increase in the coming years.
What does this mean for religious people in America?
All scriptures, from all major religions of the world have a common call to care for creation; specifically, to care for God's people. Climate Change is fundamentally a moral issue because a changing climate affects the poorest communities around the world.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others — Philippians 2:4
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Global Figures
IDMC’s global IDP figures presented below are based on its monitoring of internal displacement caused by conflict, generalised violence, human rights violations and natural hazard-induced disasters. It should be noted that these figures do not include all IDP situations by other causes, such as development projects. Furthermore, while the figures have been presented separately here, our analysis shows that conflict, disasters and resulting displacement have multiple and often overlapping root causes and impacts. Over half of the countries affected by conflict since 1970 were also affected by disaster-induced displacement in the last five years alone. This is an important consideration for those tasked with policy-making, protection and assistance.
