Miliband Says World Refugee Crisis to Worsen with Climate Change

A historic 52 million people are fleeing conflict worldwide, a trend that will intensify over the next two decades because of climate change, International Rescue Committee chief David Miliband said on Friday.

"One of the drivers of displacement and potential conflict over the next 10 to 20 years will be climate (change) - resource scarcity," said Miliband, a former foreign minister of Great Britain.  "Climate change is going to compound the cocktail that's driving war and displacement."

Miliband said there were 16 million refugees and 36 million people displaced in their own countries, typically by civil war.  That is the largest number of people fleeing persecution since World War Two, he said during a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York.

"Do I think the current level is a blip or a trend?" Miliband said.  "I would say it's a trend."

Climate change is closely associated with extreme weather events such as the droughts experienced from the western United States to Nigeria.  It takes a toll on food production and can cause rising sea levels and storms that threaten residents of low-lying and coastal areas.

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