Environmental Migrants: Considerations for the U.S. Government

The document highlights the inadequacy of current refugee definitions for environmental migrants, who lack legal protections under the 1951 Refugee Convention. It warns that climate change could displace tens of millions, with the U.S. likely seeing a significant influx from Central and South America, including an estimated 6.7 million people from Mexico by 2080 due to agricultural declines. The brief emphasizes the need for the U.S. to support resiliency initiatives abroad and expand its humanitarian aid capacity, noting that the U.S. military is already a primary provider of such assistance.

• Current international legal frameworks do not recognize environmental migrants as refugees, which denies them essential rights such as freedom of movement and protection from forced return to their home countries (non-refoulement).
• Climate change is expected to cause population displacement on an unprecedented scale, potentially affecting tens of millions of people due to direct impacts like sea-level rise and indirect drivers like resource conflict.
• The United States is projected to experience a substantial increase in migration from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, with estimates suggesting up to 6.7 million people could be driven out of Mexico by 2080 because of agricultural declines.
• Environmental instability can act as a catalyst for civil unrest and war, as seen in Syria where a drought led 1.5 million people to migrate to cities, contributing to the nation's civil war.
• The U.S. military, specifically the Navy and Marine Corps, faces increased strain on budgets and capacity as the primary distributor of humanitarian aid, having delivered over $1 billion in aid between 2006 and 2010.

APA

Stanish, J. (2017). Environmental Migrants: Considerations for the U.S. Government. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/files/IssueBrief_Climate_Migrants_1017.pdf

Chicago

Stanish, James. Environmental Migrants: Considerations for the U.S. Government. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2017. https://www.eesi.org/files/IssueBrief_Climate_Migrants_1017.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stanish |first1=James |title=Environmental Migrants: Considerations for the U.S. Government |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=October 2017 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/IssueBrief_Climate_Migrants_1017.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stanish2017environmental, author = {Stanish, James}, title = {{Environmental Migrants: Considerations for the U.S. Government}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/IssueBrief_Climate_Migrants_1017.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }