Climate, Health, and Policy

The next great migration will see people fleeing from everywhere to a limited number of safe places. Deadly heatwaves, submerging coastlines, thickly congested cities, and failed crops – all will displace not just the world’s poorest, but also a staggering amount of middle class, well-to-do people, from developed areas in the Global North. This imminent loss of place will dispossess people not just of their land, but of their bound identities, lifestyles, and networks, mechanizing a specific form of emotional, biological, and economic distress. The mental and emotional aspects, in particular, are both underestimated and critical – in fact, in 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change termed it as “climate psychopathology.” Therefore, policymaking around climate change mitigation, resilience, equity, and rehabilitation need to address the health outcomes of target populations – physical and mental health.