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NEW DELHI: Climate change is threatening livelihoods and forcing people from their homes across South Asia, but technology and government action could help limit the damage, the UN migration chief told AFP on Friday.<\/p>\n
Rising seas, flooding and drought threaten homes and farmland, Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said during a visit to New Delhi.<\/p>\n
In the Himalayas, she pointed to Nepal\u2019s August 26 disaster, when a mountain and glacier collapse triggered deadly flooding, where IOM sent humanitarian aid to help.<\/p>\n
In a worst-case scenario, up to 40.5 million people in South Asia may be forced to move by 2050, according to IOM.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they can\u2019t produce food, when they can\u2019t feed their livestock, it increases the likelihood of displacement,\u201d said Pope. \u201cThe first adaptation is often for people to move.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope said climate change was also accelerating urbanization in India.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs people seek shelter from heat, they\u2019re going into urban centers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Migration as a tool\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The risks are particularly acute in South Asia, where vast populations and limited resources leave many communities vulnerable.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lack of urgency globally about the risks that vulnerable communities are facing,\u201d Pope said, warning that funding to help residents prepare for climate change remained inadequate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cost of a humanitarian disaster is in the billions. The cost of investing in some of the resilience measures can be far less,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Better data and artificial intelligence could help governments identify communities at risk before disaster strikes, Pope said.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the advancements in AI forecasting, you can now better anticipate those communities that are at high risk of displacement,\u201d Pope said.<\/p>\n By combining weather forecasts with information about local livelihoods, authorities can identify which communities most need help.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you know a community is at risk, we don\u2019t need to wait until they\u2019re displaced to respond,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Measures could include improving farming methods, training people for other jobs and, where necessary, relocating communities repeatedly hit by floods or drought.<\/p>\n Finding the money for such programs is a major obstacle, Pope said, with governments often struggling to navigate the systems available to fund climate adaptation.<\/p>\n India\u2019s investments in early-warning systems, disaster response and technology offer grounds for optimism, she said. But no government can meet the scale of the challenge alone.<\/p>\n International migration can also help people earn a living while filling labor shortages abroad.<\/p>\n South Asia already has established migration routes, offering opportunities to build on existing links.<\/p>\n \u201cHere we have government partners who recognize both the threats to their communities but they\u2019re also using migration as a tool for development,\u201d Pope said.<\/p>\n She warned that growing demand for workers must be matched by safe, legal routes to employment.<\/p>\n Otherwise, migrants risk exploitation by traffickers and smugglers, including through fraudulent overseas job offers.<\/p>\n India\u2019s technological capacity could also help its workers compete internationally as artificial intelligence reshapes employment, Pope said.<\/p>\n AI could threaten some jobs, particularly those involving routine analysis of documents and reports, but other sectors still rely heavily on human labor.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can marry that capacity with the labor mobility, so that the workers are being skilled for those jobs as they\u2019re emerging, they will be ahead,\u201d Pope said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a place where I have more optimism than in places where we\u2019re dealing with the most acute crises,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n