Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken steps to plan for the impact on its work of a potential increase in numbers of people seeking asylum in the UK because of the effect of climate change in their countries of origin.

The UK recognises the need to better understand the complex links between migration, climate change and environmental degradation to inform our policy and action. Where relevant, all Government departments include climate change impact as part of their policy development and analysis.

Initial analysis suggests that climate extremes and environmental degradation are often amplifiers of other principal migration drivers.

Climate change is not covered in the Refugee Convention as grounds for a well-founded fear of persecution and we do not have any plans to broaden this definition. We recognise however, that climate change will increasingly become a significant factor in driving migration. For those who do not qualify for refugee status, we consider whether they are at risk of serious harm and are in need of protection on humanitarian grounds. This ensures that we do not remove anyone who faces persecution or serious harm on return to their country of origin. If protection is not required, we consider if there are any family or private life reasons, medical reasons or other exceptional circumstances that would warrant a grant of leave.