The Climate Change–Human Trafficking Nexus

The impact of climate change is rarely considered as a potential contributor to human trafficking in global discussions or national level policy framework where nexus between the two remain unexplored.

Climate change increases the risk of natural disasters and places a strain on livelihoods; it exacerbates poverty and can potentially cause situations of conflict and instability. The larger repercussions of this may include large scale migrant smuggling, which in turn makes them vulnerable to trafficking in persons (TiP) and associated forms of exploitation and abuse.

This report highlights the trend of human trafficking in Asia-Pacific, the region faces extreme vulnerability to climate change.