Climate change-related disasters have become the number one cause of internal displacement globally. Sudden-onset disasters such as cyclones, typhoons, floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes result in rapid loss of housing, income, and food availability. Loss of housing and business forces those affected to migrate and often leaves them desperate for a new source of income. Less extreme but still potent slow-onset disasters such as sea level and temperature rise, ocean acidification, glacial retreat, deforestation, and pollution lead to food insecurity, water scarcity, and loss of agriculture and biodiversity. These untenable living and working conditions also force those affected to migrate and look for new sources of income. The combination of desperation for work, loss of a stable community, and lack of permanent housing creates ideal victims for human traffickers to prey upon.

The U.N. Environment Program found that trafficking can increase by 20-30% during sudden-onset disasters. Those looking for work and shelter are more susceptible to risky employment opportunities, which may result in exploitative labor, including debt bondage (when a laborer is forced to work to pay off a debt rather than being compensated for their work directly). Trafficking organizations often recruit in areas where a disaster has recently occurred or areas vulnerable to slow-onset disasters, as well as popular destinations for climate migrants. They lure climate migrants in by offering cheap or free lodgings and job opportunities to lock workers into exploitative labor contracts or debt bondage for previously provided food and shelter. In extreme cases, some migrants will sell their family members to trafficking organizations as a way to pay off their debt and free themselves from bondage. Those who remain in the area where a climate disaster occurred are also susceptible to modern slavery.

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The Cyclic Nature of Climate-Related Modern Slavery:

Those who are poached by human traffickers after the devastations of climate events often end up working in industries that adversely influence climate change. The most popular sectors for human trafficking victims to work in are agriculture, construction, and mining, which all negatively impact the environment. Mining causes the contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water, leading to water scarcity and pollution. The high energy usage and disposal of construction waste leads to water and air pollution, as well as deforestation to clear areas for projects, and industrialized agriculture requires a staggering amount of greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and water pollution. These environmental impacts increase the likelihood of sudden-onset events and the severity of slow-onset events, which in turn increases the number of climate migrants vulnerable to human trafficking and exploitative labor.

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Who’s Vulnerable?

Indigenous Communities

Indigenous communities are at higher risk of climate-related human trafficking despite having much lower emissions than most other groups. Exploitative industries are increasing the rate of human trafficking among indigenous populations by impacting their livelihoods and land through deforestation and resource extraction. Many indigenous populations are reliant on the land for subsistence and employment and have strong cultural ties to specific regions. They are also more vulnerable to risky employment opportunities, as many indigenous communities have long-standing involvement in farm work, construction, and domestic work, which are popular industries for forced labor and exploitation.

People with Disabilities

Those with disabilities are disproportionately affected by climate disasters and are more likely to be targeted by human traffickers. Human traffickers typically look for individuals they believe they can isolate and control, which often results in people with disabilities being targeted. People with disabilities are often economically, socially, and judicially marginalized, which leaves them more desperate for employment opportunities, even when they are risky. Disabled groups also might have heightened distrust in law enforcement and government and be less likely to report incidents of human trafficking.

Women and Girls

The impacts of climate change are especially harsh in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Central America, and the Caribbean. In these areas, women and girls are most often responsible for gathering food and water and have more domestic responsibilities. This means they are more affected by climate disasters that would destroy their homes, source of domestic work, and means of gathering food and water. There is more burden placed on women when events of water scarcity, drought, and food insecurity affect them and their families, which can lead them into harmful labor opportunities. This often includes domestic and sexual exploitation that women are more likely to be forced into than men. Common sites of sexual exploitation are “Prosti-bars” where women who are trafficked are forced into sex work near sites of labor exploitation such as mines and farms. Women in vulnerable areas are often not educated to the same level as men, which limits their work opportunities, leading to exploitative labor and sex trafficking.

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What Can State Governments Do to Help?

Governments in poorer and more climate-vulnerable countries are often economically dependent on the exploitation of natural resources by richer countries. They are frequently bound by trade agreements and incentivized to relax or turn a blind eye to environmental regulations and labor rights. This being said, it is crucial for these countries to be bold and regulate economic centers associated with environmental degradation and poor labor practices. State governments must look at the long-term effects of their exploitative practices and take action to prevent human rights and environmental abuses within their borders. This would ideally include the implementation of relevant human rights treaties into domestic law, such as the U.N. Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and the introduction of human rights and environmental due diligence laws that would work to identify, combat and rectify environmental and human rights abuses.

It is extremely important that governments in wealthier countries take steps to mitigate their effects on climate change as well, seeing as they are responsible for the bulk of emissions and have greater resources to combat and reduce their effect on climate change. In addition to ramping up mitigation measures internally, wealthier countries should examine their outsourcing of exploitative extraction practices to poorer countries and place strict regulations and due diligence legislation for global supply chains. This will not only combat the effects of climate change but also modern slavery, as the extraction of resources in poorer countries is a leading sector of human trafficking. To reduce adverse economic effects, plans should be put in place to fill the funding gap for countries affected. This will allow poorer nations to revitalize their economies without the use of under and unpaid labor and will incentivize governments to adopt climate adaptation measures for their citizens.

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What Can Multinational Organizations Do?

One of the main flaws of international legislation currently is that there is no agreed-upon legal definition of climate-related migration. The category of “climate refugee” is not recognized by any protection or convention that would allow these individuals to be eligible for asylum. Those who are displaced by climate disasters have no way to claim legal protection under international refugee laws, and it is even more difficult for them since they may not have access to legal documentation due to the disasters they experienced. A good first step would be for international organizations to create a legal definition for those forced to migrate for climate-related reasons and include that category within protections for migrants and applications for asylum. International organizations can also work to provide funding for poorer and climate-vulnerable countries, as well as extend aid and counsel to countries working to incorporate international conventions on climate and human rights within their domestic laws. These organizations can also provide education for climate refugees about safe migration paths, raise awareness of red flags in risky employment opportunities, and aid refugees in finding new jobs in non-exploitative industries. Climate migrants are often forced to cross national borders for new housing and job opportunities, so it is especially important that international organizations provide legal and institutional instruments to facilitate safe migration. International organizations often depend on member states for the application and enforcement of their policies, so the fight to mitigate climate effects and stop modern day slavery must be a multilateral effort.