To think climate change will force a complete rethinking about immigration?

[OneMoreBanana]

I'm not sure how many people, on the ground or in government policy making, have connected the dots here.

The climate crisis disproportionately affects the global south, where average temperatures are hotter, infrastructure less developed and available economic resources for mitigation lower. This is already making life in some areas, that have previously supported human communities for thousands of years, near impossible. There is talk of whole cities having to be abandoned.

The same crisis is primarily created by the industrialised countries of the global north, whose per capita emissions far outweigh those of less industrialised countries.

So if/when the large scale exodus of millions of people from no-longer-habitable environments becomes inevitable, two questions arise: Is it MORAL to disallow those people asylum in countries like the UK? And is it PRACTICABLE to do so - when the "small boats" issue becomes an increasingly large number of increasingly large boats, do we literally just view it as warfare and gun them down, or what?

These questions apply regardless of how you feel about immigration currently. If you are a hardline Brexiteer or otherwise strongly for controlling and reducing immigration, can you see a point in the future where it will no longer be tenable, either morally or practically, to maintain that position? And if you are liberal on immigration, can you see a point where having to be even more liberal will mean letting go altogether of many aspects of the UK's (and other countries') "identity"?

Interested in a range of perspectives - I think there's a whole bunch of sacred cows that may end up slaughtered by this. However if you believe that climate change either isn't happening or isn't due to human activity, please just jog on past and grow a brain cell or two. Life is too short.

Eventually the right will get in and we will have to become a fortress country. It won’t be pretty.

I quite agree. I was replying to another poster and should've perhaps worded my response slightly differently.

This thread is ignoring the effect of rising sea levels on a small island nation…

Quick AI answer says:

Greece recorded 48,298 irregular refugee and migrant arrivals in 2025, which represents a 21% decrease compared to the 60,886 arrivals documented in 2024.

I don't know if that's what you meant by "almost zero". If those numbers were increased 100 or 1,000 fold (Greece being at the European edge of one of the most climate-prone regions of the world) they certainly wouldn't be perceived as such.

I voted for Brexit. One of the main reasons was immigration because we seem to forget we live on an island.

It’s funny because people call that racist. What I think is racist is when people here think we don’t have to have enough food to feed ourselves because we should just take it from where? Another country? Can they feed themselves? Are we expecting them to plan for not only their own country but ours too?

And why is that? Because we have more money? Because we are British and so take what we want?

So for that reason we need to have a serious discussion about the carrying capacity of Britain. And we must keep our population including immigration within those levels.

And that’s harsh as you say people will die. If we don’t do it - we will die too.

Europe is heating up faster than any other continent on the planet

I read this too and I'm not convinced. I think that Europe is the continent most likely to efficiently track data and to publish it promptly.

Personally I think the global picture is much more bleak, as demonstrated by the fact that the only region heating up faster than Europe is the Arctic.

I've been saying exactly this for a couple of years @OneMoreBanana. It's inevitable. And we will STILL want to push them back without any understanding.

I'm glad to be older. The world is gradually ending and we're pretending it isn't happening.

This is why overseas development aid is important. If poorer countries are given the means to mitigate or deal with the worst effects of climate change, they won't be forced to move elsewhere (i.e. here).

The bottom line is - there are too many people. 100 years ago, the global population was about 1 billion. It is now over 8 billion. All of those people need a home, water, food etc, just the basics, then add in the extras like cars, flights etc. The UK alone is cementing over green land to house people. The answer is staring us in the face. And no, I don't have children. Obviously.

No. Not at all. It has made it worse, there is a lot worse to come.
I am dreading the longterm consequences of this mass immigration policy.
The birth rates reduced all over Europe but other cultures have babies until they can’t have anymore.
It was pointless.
Until the world works together, it’s a waste of time.

Ah - but remember, net migration is down. But lets not talk about who is leaving and who is coming in. Also, boat crossing are down. But lets not talk about the increase in the other ways people are coming in. I wish people would wake up.

To lighten the doom, thank goodness we’ve plenty of ammo and guns to use it….(hunting, shooting family on farm).

😂

Can I come to live with you? 😅 I have two bottles of deep heat spray.

Not voted but I think YABU for believing the policy makers will have that much foresight 😐

The leader of one of the most powerful nations continues to deny climate change even exists.

Not disagreeing with your points that cc should drive changes @OneMoreBanana . I think those in power will only make changes when situations world wide are even more desperate than they are now.

As a pp said. I am glad I am old - not old enough not to see what is going to become of the UK though. It is all too late.

If you actually looked at the sources, rather than blindly believing whatever crap 'AI' feeds you, you would see that the new policy was introduced in July 2025 and the legal framework ratified in February this year so the 2025 numbers are hardly relevant. Anyone entering Greece irregularly has two choices: immediate return, or prison (followed by deportation). All irregular migrants are taken to a secure centre on Crete for processing.

Greece recorded 48,298 irregular refugee and migrant arrivals in 2025, which represents a 21% decrease compared to the 60,886 arrivals documented in 2024.

Not an achievement. Crazy numbers.
That is 100,000 if that continues over a two year period for the next few years? That’s one country.

We will face the choice between being over run with people or fighting for our survival as a country. This will inevitably mean closing our border and gunning down anyone trying to breach it. Will a government have the stomach to do such a thing? We will wait and see.

“Interested in a range of perspectives - I think there's a whole bunch of sacred cows that may end up slaughtered by this. However if you believe that climate change either isn't happening or isn't due to human activity, please just jog on past and grow a brain cell or two. Life is too short.”

This made me laugh.

All these problems. I don’t know why someone doesn’t just ask AI to model a solution, it seems to be the answer to everything else 🤷🏽‍♀️

(sarcasm intended)

Yes climate refugees are likely to become a thing.

No I expect most people here particularly Reform voters wouldn’t give a shit and certainly not agree that any of them should come and live here.

This thread reminds me of the dystopian novel The Wall by John Lanchester where UK inhabitants have to serve time on The Wall defending the UK from “the others”. A recent novel, published I think, in the last ten years. It has its issues but a dark and sobering read.

There's a third option which isn't talked about enough - giving overseas aid and loans to boost the livelihoods of people suffering from the worst effects of climate change.

Overpopulation in Britain is not going to be a problem for long. The fertility rate is about 1.4, well below the 2.1 required to sustain population, and deaths now outnumber births.

Not many people realise the effect of reducing population on the economy. Fewer people means fewer consumers, fewer renters, fewer home owners, fewer workers, less profit.
A growth economy based on fiat money needs a growing population as well as an ever increasing money supply.

This is partly why politicians and "the elite" need net migration.
Because the alternative, an economy that doesn't grow and produces no profit, is unthinkable to them.