Three months ago, facing dangerous floods, Bernadette Leemans left her home in Chaudfontaine, in south-eastern Belgium, and left everything behind. This mother of two remembers this day as if it were yesterday, especially the water which kept gaining ground.
“Water started to come in from the road, so we decided to put sandbags outside our doors. All the neighbors gathered, but little by little water began to flood the parking lot and we took the trash cans up one level. At first it was kinda fun“, she says.
But subsequently, incredulous in the face of the situation, Bernadette and her neighbors had no choice but to gather their things and leave.
According to some studies, these serious floods are the consequence of climate change. For many scientists, these phenomena will be more intense and more frequent in the future.
Bernadette has been working on climate change issues for 17 years. She wants to raise awareness of the issue and reiterate the urgency to act. So she writes a book to share her story and evoke her new status.
“I feel like a “climate refugee” because, due to climate change, I had to leave my house“, explains Bernadette.
– Climate migration –
“Climate refugees” Where “ecological” or “eco-refugees“, if the legal term has yet to be defined precisely, it already clearly defines the people forced to leave their place of life due to an environmental disruption.
For the German researcher, Frank Biermann, author of “Climate Refugees“, climate change could cause the biggest refugee crisis in human history; but there is still time, he says, to turn the tide.
“In the second half of the century, we could face a major migration crisis due to climate change. It is a function, and it is very important to specify this, of the climate policies implemented and developed today. It is therefore not too late. I am not an alarmist, I am not totally negative. There is a chance to stop climate change and get out of this crisis, but if that doesn’t happen, climate migration could become a problem.“, assure Frank Biermann.
While the world leaders gathered for COP26 in Glasgow therefore have their work cut out for them, the fight against climate change ultimately remains everyone’s business.
For “COP26 is only one of the elements. I think it is important for politicians to implement things since they have the power, but they are not the only ones who have to do it. We must all act together“, believes Bernadette Leemans.
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