Climate Refugees: A Global Challenge is a 56-minute documentary film directed by François-Xavier Trégan. Released in 2025, the film highlights the human stories of environmental displacement and explores local, innovative initiatives across Asia, the Pacific, & Latin America.

Over the past 10 years, climate change has displaced an average of 70,000 people every day. Poorer countries are particularly hard hit. Already more than 30 million people flee their villages, regions or countries every year because of climate change. By 2050, it's estimated there will be between 200 million & 1 billion climate refugees.

Faced with these migrations, the international community seems incapable of even agreeing on the definition of a climate refugee. They are not covered by the 1951 Refugee Convention, and climate-induced displacement is not recognized as a valid ground for asylum under the Geneva Convention. The specter of waves of unrestrained migration is brandished for populist purposes to justify the locking of borders.

In the absence of a global response, the countries & regions most affected are taking the initiative. One of these is Bangladesh, one of the places most severely affected by climate change. Cyclones & tropical storms cause devastating damage, while rising sea levels are flooding mangrove forests & agricultural land. Melting glaciers in the Himalayas upstream of the country are causing flooding along the rivers. In new model villages, communities displaced by soil erosion & salinization are being provided with accommodation & land.

In Colombia, pressure from lawyers has led to the legal recognition of the first victims of climate change. A historic ruling recognizes that displacement is caused not only by violence & armed conflict, but also by environmental factors. In the Pacific region, solidarity is being prioritized in the face of rising sea levels, which threaten the very existence of several island nations. Policy is shaped by a recognition of the deep ties people have to their homeland and their history.

Climate Refugees: A Global Challenge explores these challenges through the prism of individual human stories and innovative initiatives in Asia, the Pacific, & Latin America. They could become models for change well beyond their borders.

Climate Refugees: A Global Challenge

Documentary Film at the Library