Commonwealth Boss Warns of Mass Migration Unless Climate Cash Delivered

Richer countries need urgently to provide money to help their vulnerable peers adapt to the impact of climate change or face consequences including mass migration, the secretary general of the Commonwealth told Reuters.

Speaking on the sidelines of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, Patricia Scotland said the last 20 years had shown a “direct correlation” between the climate crisis and movement of people.

“If we don’t make the Global South liveable… people will move, because there is a thirst in humans and humanity to stay alive,” she said.

“So if we wish to help people to stay where they were born and to enjoy and rejoice in the beauty of their land, we have to maintain that land with them and for them.”

Even after a year of record temperatures, together with flooding and wildfires, ramping up the provision of cash referred to as “adaptation finance” has been a sticking point at U.N. talks in Dubai that are scheduled to finish on Tuesday.

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