Climate Change-induced Displacement: A look into the coast of Ghana

“Internal displacement is the great tragedy of our times. The internally displaced people are among the most vulnerable of the human family” (Former UN Secretary-General- Kofi Annan)

As climate change continues to accelerate unabated, its associated impacts are also expected to increase correspondingly. One of the most conspicuous consequences of climate change is the rise in sea levels which mostly renders coastal areas very vulnerable to these effects.

It is projected that, by the year 2050, over 570 low-lying coastal cities in countries like Australia, Florida, Portugal, and Ghana will experience sea level rises by a minimum of 0.5meters with accompanying wet challenges(Youmatter, 2019). In the case of Ghana, the issue of the tidal wave has been a perennial one mostly with devastating consequences for coastal dwellers.

Although successive governments have made efforts in developing sea defense along with these areas of impact, the slow pace of this development explains the worrying continuous tidal wave experiences along the coast of Ghana.

The most natural implications of these tidal waves are the physical and economic displacement of coastal dwellers. Impacts of coastal flooding are not only limited to the physical displacement of the affected persons from their houses but their very productive resources are also not left out. The involuntary and unplanned nature by which these displacements occur leaves many of the affected persons (mostly children and women) very vulnerable and helpless.

Although these happenings fall within humanitarian circles and may sometimes attract the attention of humanitarian agencies such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), individual Governments have the primary responsibilities of providing relocation assistance and consequently resettling affected persons by way of mitigating the disturbing impact of the displacement.

In many situations, internally displaced persons are left to self-resettle or perch with relatives in areas with harsh economic conditions with very little or no support system.

This then raises the important question about how well existing mechanisms in Ghana provides safeguards to persons displaced by tidal waves and others forms of natural disaster. It is estimated that over 30.7 million persons were displaced by natural disasters globally in 2020 alone(Statista, 2021).

Moreover, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected an increase in the number of persons to be displaced by climate change over the course of this century. Even though not much empirical study exists on the number of persons displaced by climate change in Ghana, the available anecdotal evidence leaves a very disturbing picture.

Recent tidal waves along the coast of the Volta Region and other coastal areas have left thousands of persons displaced from their habitual residences.