Climate change is making home insurance more expensive and less available, as the multibillion-dollar losses caused by hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters increase in scale. Rising insurance premiums can push some people to relocate or force others to either pay more money to remain in their home or go without insurance and risk catastrophe if disaster strikes. Residents, insurance companies, and policymakers in high-income countries are beginning to reckon with these issues and are working to find a way to adequately offset risk without charging exorbitant prices. This episode features Talley Burley, who analyzes climate risk and insurance at the Environmental Defense Fund.

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Chapters

02:17 How Climate Change Is Raising Insurance Costs

06:04 Hazards Driving Insurability Concerns

07:38 Insurance Costs as a Driver of Migration

09:49 Climate Entrapment and Equity Issues

15:13 Policy Solutions: Adaptation, Building Codes and Wraparound Services

18:52 The National Flood Insurance Program: Origins and Trade-offs

26:00 Hurricane Sandy: Lessons in Recovery and Relocation

Refugees are often some of the people most vulnerable to climate change. After fleeing armed conflict or persecution, many refugees end up in camps located in rural areas, with few resources and little support. That can leave them vulnerable to floods, storms, extreme heat, or other impacts of climate change.

This episode focuses on these impacts, with insights from Ayoo Irene Hellen, a South Sudanese refugee in Uganda and climate advocate. She discusses her own experiences, those of her community, and the value of including refugee voices in planning.

Want to dive deeper? Listen to an earlier episode speaking with the UN refugee agency’s special advisor on climate action: https://mpichangingclimatechangingmigration.podbean.com/e/no-climate-refugees-but-still-a-role-for-the-un-refugee-agency/

All of MPI’s work on climate migration is here: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/topics/climate-change

00:00 Intro

02:45 Climate impacts on refugee settlements in Uganda

09:32 Legal and socioeconomic barriers to climate adaptation

16:52 Exclusion of refugees from climate policy processes

19:21 Refugee-led community resilience strategies

23:11 Climate challenges upon return: The case of South Sudan

27:24 Closing thoughts: co-creation and refugee inclusion

Many Indigenous people have a deep connection to their ancestral homelands that dates back centuries. What happens when climate change and other factors force them to move away from those lands? This episode discusses issues affecting Indigenous people, especially in the Americas. Our guest is environmental scientist Jessica Hernandez, a climate justice and Indigenous advocate. She discusses the factors compelling migration for Indigenous communities, their experiences after migration and the dearth of Indigenous voices in policy discussions over climate change and migration.