Kerry Warns ‘Climate Refugees’ Coming ‘in the Not-Too-Distant Future’

Wednesday in Washington at the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference, Secretary of State John Kerry told U.S. ambassadors that one day soon they will be “coping” with “climate refugees” “if not now, in the not-too-distant future.”

Speaking about the State Department’s major priorities Kerry listed climate change, saying, “I know a lot of people were sort of surprised, but President Obama and I could not agree more that this [climate change] is a threat to the planet itself. It is a national security threat, it is a health threat, it’s an environmental threat, it’s an economic threat. We’re spending billions upon billions—$110 billion last year—on the damages that occurred because of the increased level of major weather events around the world; droughts that are 500-year droughts, not 100-year droughts; places that have less and less water; food that is less produced where it used to be. There’ll be climate refugees that all of you will be coping with at some point—if not now, in the not-too-distant future. And the science? Ninety-seven percent of all the scientists for 20 years tell us unequivocally that this is happening, and happening now, and humans are causing it, and we have a responsibility to respond to it.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN