Why should we talk about environmental migrants in Italy?

Let’s begin by asking ourselves a question. Why is it important to discuss environmental migrants? It is important to consider Italy as the country where migrants arrive.

The best way to find the answers is to look at some very compelling data. According to the World Bank, if there aren’t improvements in development or more environmentally sustainable policies soon, there will be 143 millions migrants linked with climate change by 2050. The UNHowever, he is more pessimistic than ever and predicts the displacement in 250 million people.

The countries most affected are the Pacific islands, Bangladesh, and many African countries, especially those within the Sahel zone. These are countries that contribute less CO2 and, therefore, to climate change but are more affected.

In 2021, Statistical Dossier about ImmigrationGlobal forced mobility will be driven by the climate emergency in 2020, according to the Guardian. Interview with Guardian 2008 Antonio GuterresAccording to the UN, climate change is the leading cause of forced displacement. Its impact on the environment and on poverty and conflict are both factors.

Italy is the only country where researchers have examined the effects of climate changes on migration. Studies on this topic are scattered and inadequate, so it is crucial to discuss it. We owe a lot to the very important research done by Antonello PasiniThe magazine published the article by, one of the most respected experts on the subject. Environmental Research Communications. It is stated here that weather-climatic variations are crucial in influencing migration processes. In particular, the increase in temperature is decisive so that it suggests that both animal and human heat tolerance may play a primary role in the variations in migratory flow. These results are important because the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) experts predict that the world temperature will continue to rise until the end of this century.

This research is, however, more important than any other because it reveals that LegambienteNearly 38% are from the Sahel, with the rest coming from other countries like Guinea, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ivory Coast where the environmental situation has been declining.

Enumming, environmental migration is already underway and it undoubtedly involves Italy and its political ability to interpret and face the future challenges.

Some definitions

Let’s move on. What is environmental immigration? Who are the environmental migrants and why do they exist? How can these people be legally protected in Italy

It is difficult to draw a causal and direct link between climate change, forced migration, and other drivers of migration. Climate change can be directly and negatively affected the dangerousness of places as well as indirectly changing livelihoods. Rapid-onset extreme environmental events like tsunami, landslides or earthquakes, as well as slow-onset environmental degradation developments that lead to droughts, land degradation, make it impossible for many people to live in these areas. They are forced to flee. It is important to note that extreme climate change-related disasters and environmental degradation might also trigger violence and conflicts over resource and therefore induce migration.

In other words, the disastrous effects of CO2 emissions on agriculture and infrastructure will eventually have a devastating impact on people’s livelihoods. The three main types of climate change-related migrants and refugees are: those who flee from extreme environmental events, man-made or rapid-onset natural disasters, and then return to their home after the area is rehabilitated. Second, refugees who have been forced out of their homes due to permanent environmental change or natural disasters that result from development projects. Third, people who are temporarily or permanently displaced due to inability to sustain themselves on their lands because of environmental degradation.

Legal status of environmental migrants

The main problem lies in the absence of an international legal framework to protect environmental migrants rights, despite the seriousness of the problem. For example, The 1951 Geneva ConventionThe law, which grants refugee status to people persecuted on the basis of race, religion or nationality, does not protect against environmental disasters or lack of natural resource making them very vulnerable.

According to international law, environmental migrants are generally non-existent. People who move to escape extreme weather events or for environmental reasons are now considered “ghosts” and are treated as economic migrants. The treatment they receive is at the sole discretion of the nation states and the various sensitivities of the governments that follow them. In Italy, for example, with Salvini’s security decrees and the cancellation of humanitarian protection, these people had very little chance of being granted any legal status. In the event of an exceptional or contingent disaster, there was only one option: a six-month residence permit that could not be converted to a work permit.

The recognition of the residence permit in disasters was made possible by the change of governmental alliances. It is no longer tied to an exceptional or contingent disaster situation. Instead, it is linked to the severity and extent of the disaster in the country of origin. This law allows for the conversion of this permit into a permit to work reasons, allowing environmental migrants who have found work the opportunity to settle in the country.

Milon, a Bangladeshi citizen who was granted humanitarian protection by the Court of Cassation’s decision 5022 dated March 9, 2021 is another important precedent. In this case, the Court refers to a UN-approved principle that humanitarian protection requests cannot be accepted if there is no policy in the country of origin to combat climate change and pollution. In the case MilonThe climatic disaster in the country of origin was determined byConduct of government authoritiesto be due in large part to the industrial shrimp farming, occupation of the territory with vast aquaculture tanks and the deforestation policy.

The Italian narrative about environmental migration

Apart from the legislative issue, it is clear that environmental migrants in Italy are not being discussed at all or are discussed in alarmist, unscientific terms. Salvini (2018) LaughableThe recognition by the European Parliament of climate-change as a migratory driver through the statement: What is the climatemigrant? Where does he go, then? What happens if one is hot in summer and cold in winter? Let’s be serious. We already have so many. Is the climate migrant also someone from Milan who doesn’t like the fog?

It can be said, in general, that the narrative on immigration in Italy fails to view it as a global phenomenon and instead focuses more on arrivals. It is difficult for people to talk about why they move and the dynamics behind their decision to migrate. This view sees arrivals as the final phase of a process whose cause is our political and economic system that exploits the most vulnerable parts of the planet for its own gain. Talking about environmental migrants would be useful to open the interpretative horizon and understand, also in a future perspective, where and why people will arrive if we don’t do something to reverse the course of climate change.