Climate Refugees

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere with a GDP per capita of $870 in 2018.181 It is also the most vulnerable country in Latin America and the Caribbean region to natural disasters and ranks fourth globally of countries most impacted by extreme weather events from 1998 to 2017.182 Caribbean climate projections estimate that temperatures could increase from between 0.78°C and 2.16°C by 2050.183 As a small island developing state, Haiti is subsequently exposed to the threat of increasing average temperature, sea-level rise, recurrent severe tropical hurricanes, and flooding.184 By 2030, sea levels are expected to increase by 0.13 to 0.4 meters, which would put Haiti at risk of extreme flooding and coastal erosions.185 Haiti, situated at the center of the hurricane belt, is particularly susceptible to hurricanes, which are projected to intensify by 5 to 10 percent by 2050.186 With heavy rainfall events combined with concentrated deforestation, flooding is a major issue for Haiti, which will only get worse as the climate crisis intensifies.187

Haiti is also exposed to the threat of decreased average rainfall and desertification. The island nation faces a decrease in average annual precipitation of up to 43 millimeters by 2050188 and an increased likelihood of droughts, resulting in the destruction of crops, decreased agricultural production, and heightened food insecurity.189 Due to colonial policy190 and Haiti’s history of deforestation, the island’s primary forests have declined from 4.4 percent of total land area in 1988 to 0.32 percent in 2016. Such deforestation has exacerbated soil degradation,191 erosion, flooding, desertification, and scarcity of water resources.192 With an economy based primarily on agriculture, employing 66 percent of the workforce and contributing to 27 percent of the GDP, Haiti is highly susceptible to the impacts of the climate crisis.193 Relying heavily on rainfall for farming, Haiti experienced droughts that caused crop losses of more than 50 percent and a significant reduction in food availability resulting in food insecurity for 3.6 million people in 2016.194

Natural disasters exacerbated by the climate crisis have precipitated mass casualties and internal and external displacement. Between 1961 and 2012, Haiti experienced more than 180 disasters that led to a massive death toll. These include the deaths of an estimated 220,000 people following an earthquake in 2010—not wreaked by the climate crisis, but worsened by similar factors that interact with more climate-related natural disasters. These also include an estimated 230,000 deaths195 and the displacement of 175,000 people196 as a result of Hurricane Matthew in 2016.197 While evidence documenting displacement is scarce after major disasters, research indicates that people displaced by the 2010 and 2016 disasters still face displacement-related challenges today.198 Most recently in 2018, approximately 8,800 new displacements were recorded in Haiti primarily related to housing destruction caused by an earthquake in October 2018 in Port-de-Paix.199

These climate crisis factors have exacerbated Haiti’s already-troubled human and social development, affecting water and food accessibility, and public health. Haiti’s water and sanitation infrastructure is one of the most underresourced in the Western Hemisphere.200 It is estimated that only 64 percent of the population has access to basic or advanced water supplies, and a mere 30 percent has access to basic sanitation.201 After the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, a UN camp contaminated the Artibonite River with cholera,202 which led to over 800,000 cases of the disease and 9,000 deaths.203 Flooding also increases the risk of outbreaks of vector and waterborne diseases, such as dengue fever, malaria, Zika, and cholera.204

Combating the climate crisis in Haiti necessitates a multipronged approach. As a full participant in the Paris Agreement,205 the Haitian government created a 2015–2030 climate plan that aims to shift 47 percent of its electricity generation to renewable sources and grow 137,500 hectares of new forest.206 Despite these attempts by the government, these measures cannot succeed in preventing the effects of the climate crisis without the meaningful support of the international community as well as local grassroots interventions. New strategies must learn from former pernicious international community involvement, such as the Dominican Republic’s mass deportation of Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian migrants207 and the United Nations’ disastrous role in the cholera outbreak.208 Further, the international community must advance strategies for better allocation of funds, 209 such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s approach that partners with community-based organizations to battle the climate crisis.210