South-Eastern Europe regional synthesis: Climate change, displacement and the right to education

Executive summary

In 2019, 24.9 million people were internally displaced as a result of disasters (IDMC, 2019). This number jumped to 30.7 million in 2020. Catastrophic events related to climate change are no longer isolated incidents but have become the new global norm, a reality that is intensifying each year. While there is significant literature regarding the nexus between climate-induced displacement and other rights—such as the right to claim legal residency abroad—there is very limited knowledge on the linkages between climate change, displacement and the right to education.

The right to education is a human right for all people. The fulfilment of this right for certain vulnerable and marginalized groups, such as refugees, girls and women, and indigenous communities, is well-studied, while those affected and displaced by flooding, drought, sea-level rise, hurricanes and other effects related to climate change are notably missing from the picture.

Populations around the globe face significant barriers to education that are related to climate change effects, and the barriers to education caused by climate-induced displacement are affecting a larger number of the global population each year. To fully realize SDG 4 and protect and fulfil the right to education for all, it is critical to ensure this growing, but politically invisible, population can continue to access education, including those in south-eastern Europe.

People in south-eastern Europe already face significant barriers to education. Many suffer from generational poverty, longstanding discrimination against ethnic minorities (particularly the Roma community), war-torn infrastructure and housing crises. It is common to drop out of education to pursue economic activity. High numbers of the populations in south-eastern Europe were displaced following the Balkan wars in the 1990s, leading to large numbers living in temporary shelters and displacement camps, and many continuing to live in unstable housing infrastructure. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia also make up part of the Western Balkan route, a migratory path that leads thousands of migrants and asylum seekers through the countries yearly, and often in need of shelter and education, adding complexity to the situation.

While such displacement might be initially driven by conflict or politics, climate change poses an additional threat to these populations. In the event of large-scale flooding, which is increasing in frequency over time, those living in unstable housing conditions and poverty are more likely to experience secondary displacement, rendering their continued access to education particularly precarious.

Furthermore, in the Republic of Moldova particularly, many that might be considered economic migrants at first glance are actually driven by climate change. A large number of Moldovans work in the agricultural sector, and repeated and severe droughts and flooding are leading to agricultural losses and related poverty, making it more challenging for families to pay school fees and, in some instances, inducing dropout to pursue economic activity. Some families are forced to move in search of a more stable livelihood, interrupting their children’s education.

Climate change also directly threatens education in this region, destroying school infrastructure and blocking roads and transport. Even where schools remain intact, governments often use schools as emergency shelters post-disaster, interrupting normal educational activity. While certain Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) policies are in place, fractured and decentralized governance systems render it difficult to have a uniform, effective response to ensure educational continuity in the context of disasters.

The impacts of climate change and the patterns of climate displacement in south-eastern Europe are complex and intricate, but there is no doubt that they present barriers to education in this region. Overall, this report finds that:

• Infrastructural damage to schools and school closures following extreme flooding, linked to climate change, pose the most direct barrier to education, and occurs in each country studied

• The Republic of Moldova is experiencing displacement among its agricultural and rural populations due to climate-related livelihood losses

• In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, the high numbers of internally displaced persons, refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in unstable housing are at high risk of future displacement as floods continue to worsen

• Disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management plans focus on the impact that education can have on climate resilience, rather than, inversely, considering education continuity in post-disaster response

• While there are comprehensive policies addressing refugees and their needs, there are few policies dedicated solely to internally displaced persons (“IDPs”), and those displaced by climate change are not considered IDPs according to the national legislation of any of the countries studied

• Climate displaced persons remain politically invisible in national frameworks and therefore strategies to ensure the right to education of these groups are non-existent, despite the very real barriers

Until each nation has a clear legal definition of IDPs that includes those displaced by climate change, and until legislation clearly ensures the right to education for all IDPs, addressing the barriers to education for such a population will remain a fractured and uphill battle.