New York City’s migrant crisis could be solved — at least in part — by solving the global climate crisis, according to former Vice President Al Gore.
In an interview with Gothamist ahead of his Climate Reality Leadership conference at the Javits Center in Manhattan next month, the politician turned climate activist said climate change is already a leading cause of migration into the United States.
“Studies have shown that the climate crisis is responsible for most of the migration,” Gore said. “What we’re seeing with migration from Central America, and other regions, too, to the southern border of the U.S. is driven more by the climate extremes these people are suffering in the places they’ve always called home.”
A 2023 United Nations report found 114 million people worldwide have been forced to leave their homes due to climate change and conflicts. That number is expected to exceed 1 billion by 2050.
More than 175,000 migrants have arrived in New York City over the last two years, according to city officials. The city has spent an estimated $4 billion on caring for the new arrivals since 2022.
“It costs much more to continue this reckless and dangerous practice of continuing to burn fossil fuels,” Gore said. “There are more than 8 million people that die every year from breathing in the pollution that is caused along with the global warming pollution when fossil fuels are burned.”
Gore’s conference lands in Manhattan from April 12 to 14. It marks the 55th time he’s held the event but the first time it will come to New York City, and it will arrive at a key moment in the city’s push to reduce carbon emissions.
City and state lawmakers have passed some of the country’s toughest climate legislation in recent years. But there’s still a long way to go in enforcing them.
Local Law 97, New York City’s most significant climate rule, requires the city’s largest buildings to reduce their emissions by 40% by the end of the decade.
But only…
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