Author | Tania AlonsoAlthough they are not occupying headlines yet, migrants are soon to become the most visible faces of climate change. People who will abandon or who have already abandoned their homes because their very livelihoods are at stake as a result of natural disasters or gradual changes to their environment.Many of these people will move from rural areas to urban areas, where they will have more possibilities of finding work. Others will have to abandon the cities themselves, where life is becoming more complicated. In both cases, their displacements will generate inequalities and structural changes in the territories.
Internal movements

The challenges in cities

Examples on the map
In 2017, 18.8 million people were displaced due to disasters in 135 countries, almost double the number of people displaced due to conflicts. The Philippines, as a result of numerous typhoons, Chad, due to desertification and drought, or Mozambique, after Cyclone Idai, were some of the countries that saw the highest levels of population movement.This number is expected to increase in the coming years if the rise in temperatures is not limited. The Horn of Africa may be one of the worst hit regions. In Ethiopia, for example, water scarcity and lower agricultural production, will lead to numerous migrations. Even its largest city, Addis Ababa, could see a slower than expected growth, according to the report ‘Groundswell: Preparing for Internal Climate Migration’. In a country in which agricultural productivity will reduce due to climate change, greater economic diversification will be needed.Other cities could also see a slow demographic increase, such as Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). In both cases, due to rising sea levels and storm surges.