The Climate Pod: How Climate Migration Will Change the World

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Podcast: The Climate Pod

Episode: How Climate Migration Will Change the World

Recently published a book called: Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World.

The future is going to see an increasing number of catastrophes.
100,000,000 people in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Puerto Rico, the Philippians, China, and more will be displaced.
Some countries like the Maldives and Bangladesh will disappear completely.
Moving to a different place is not inherently bad.
Node to Node migration is a boon for the places migrated to and from.
When moving to a new place, it is common for the migrant to send money and ideas back to their home country. They may send ideas about politics, voting rights, living, governing, and social structures back to the home country, which can start to change the culture there, perhaps making it less likely people may want to move in the future.
Increased migrant populations show less crime, increased productivity, and increased GDP.
Migrants often take jobs the natives no longer want to perform but still have to get done.
In most cities, the migrants barely meet the needs of the areas, and those areas need migration.

Unemployment research has shown that cities do not have a zero-sum game.
Cities are very adaptable to growing populations and increased migrant populations.
As the population rises, so does the demand for services.
Cities with increased migration see rising entrepreneurship and in an increase in the number of jobs.
Natives or pre-established peoples benefit because they tend to be the bosses and managers. In addition, they bring other benefits like cheaper childcare and housecare workers.
It’s only when the influx is ignored or managed improperly that there are issues, for example, developing a black market for goods and workers.
Problems needing proper management:

Affordable housing is a fundamental human right, and there are issues with allowing capital to drive housing costs.
Housing policy needs to change. There are archaic laws that need to change, like requiring parking space for a car and zoning that require people to spread out.
Density. The most effective housing is with 4-6 stories buildings with walkable distances for food, leisure, and industry (office spaces).
Healthcare. Universal healthcare, especially in the US.
Inclusive programs and laws so migrants don’t feel like an “other.”

A lot of the migration is going to come from the global south.
Frankly, the international programs dealing with migration are terrible.
The IOM is UN Affiliated but has no real power to do anything.
Need to look at removing borders and making migration easier. Some economists estimate this would generate an additional trillion dollars of GDP worldwide.
The majority of populations of countries do not support racism. So it’s strange that racist and anti-migration politicians get elected and have a soapbox.

Climate mitigation toward net zero must be done for humans to be net-zero, and the whole planet (including natural systems) has to be net zero.
There are places where adaptation is going to be possible. There are also areas where adaptation is impossible and must be abandoned altogether.
The planet is on the verge of overreaching four major tipping points with the climate.

The current state of nationalism is dangerous and is actively causing and will cause people to die.

We need to redefine what a sustainable house is.
It needs to provide us with energy, clean air, and food while reducing using climate-damaging resources like concrete.

The nation-state is starting to be an anachronistic structure in the face of the need of so many people to migrate. What we define as a nation-state is going to change.
Some countries are getting ahead of migration. Canada is planning on tripling its population in the coming decades, most of which will come from migration.
Arable land is rapidly disappearing.
Charter cities will rise to give homes and voices to these migrant populations. Some of these may even be rented from the countries where they are located by other countries. An example is how the Chinese rented out Hong Kong for 99 years.
Some of these solutions need to be worked out. Otherwise, these things will be solved by war.
There are many opportunities for countries to improve their state and populations if they think ahead.
The inability to allow for future thinking is one of the great failures of neoliberalism.