Why Not a Humanitarian Climate Visa?

The latest episode on the Changing Climate, Changing Migration podcast of the Migration Policy Institute features Ama Francis, a climate displacement strategist with the International Refugee Assistance Project and Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

One interesting idea advocated by Ama Francis on the podcast is a Humanitarian Climate visa for climate displaced people from climate vulnerable areas. The visa could have two-step eligibility that asks, first, if the person is from an area particularly prone to climate impact. Second, the visa could evaluate vulnerability. As Francis points out, there is an example of such a visa from Argentina, which in 2022 approved a new humanitarian visa to enable people displaced regionally by climate disasters (in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean) to access the visa.

You can listen to the full episode here.

IE