The Forgotten Element of Sustainability

In 1998 environmental disasters created more refugees than wars or other armed conflicts. With over three fifths of refugees environmental refugees, Jean is particularly keen to highlight the increasing link between asylum seekers and areas of environmental decline.

Jean produced a report entitled Refugees and the Environment: The Forgotten Element Of Sustainability to draw attention to the high level of migration resulting from deteriorating environmental conditions around the world. It also points out that many so-called ‘economic migrants’ are in fact environmental refugees.