Climate literacy enables greater agency, decision-making, and meaningful refugee participation. One refugee-led organisation in Egypt is piloting workshops and supporting community-led initiatives to help translate knowledge into power.

The climate crisis acts as a ‘risk multiplier’ of displacement, exacerbating direct and indirect drivers, including armed conflict, food insecurity or loss of livelihood, both within countries and across borders.[1] As the climate crisis increases the risk of displacement across the world, approximately 75% of the roughly 123 million people globally displaced are sheltered in countries with high to extreme exposure to climate-related hazards.[2] The impact of the climate crisis on displaced people, many of whom already face precarious living conditions, is thus particularly severe. Yet, there remains a noticeable lack of research on how to effectively tailor climate change communication to the lived experiences of displaced communities, limiting their ability to prepare and adapt to the climate risks they face while displaced.

Climate change communication occurs within complex systems of individuals, institutions and organisations with a diverse range of knowledge, politics, experiences and cultures.[3] Communication about climate change often focuses on raising awareness and inducing social behaviour change, harnessing people’s sense of responsibility for their ‘homes’, local communities and country of residence to get them to reduce emissions and care for the environment, excluding those navigating lives disrupted by forced displacement, loss of home and marginalisation.

Climate literacy, which often emerges as a result of exposure to climate change communication, is an understanding of how the climate system works, as well as of human influence on the climate and vice versa.[4] A basic level of climate literacy, or having heard of climate change and understanding that it is caused, at least in part, by humans, has been shown to be a strong predictor of risk perception.[5] Risk perception is formed based on individual experience, knowledge and observations and informs adaptation strategies, including changes in behaviour, support for relevant public policies or mobility decisions. Most climate communication in recent years has focused on mobilising or convincing people in the Global North of the urgency of the climate crisis, as there is a perception that those in Global South countries do not need convincing because they already bear the brunt of it. What these audiences need, however, is to ‘make sense’ of what they are seeing, to understand how science can explain the changes they are experiencing in their environments, what the future holds, and what they can do about it.[6]

Piloting climate literacy workshops

Working at refugee-led organisations (RLOs) serving displaced communities in Egypt, we recognised that, to improve climate literacy among these communities, it is essential to tailor climate change communication to their lived experiences and develop messaging within a participatory format. The motivation to do this work was clear: displaced people face unique, compounded challenges and climate vulnerabilities shaped by a precarious legal status, limited access to services, economic strain and frequent marginalisation. In order to strengthen their ability to prepare and adapt to climate risks and lead on their own solutions, communication about climate change aimed at appealing to displaced communities should reflect the intersections of these hardships.

In conversations with refugees from Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Yemen, all countries significantly impacted by climate change, many described how climate hazards like extreme heat, flooding and failed harvests – in addition to conflict and other forms of insecurity –had influenced their reasons to relocate. But while many of those we spoke with demonstrated high levels of climate literacy in relation to their countries of origin, their awareness of how global climate change manifests itself through climate hazards in Egypt and the urban environment of Cairo was limited – a disparity that was only revealed thanks to the participatory format. As one South Sudanese refugee we spoke with said, “Nobody has raised the issue of climate change, its effects and impact on Egypt, before. But I think it is high time that we think about bringing awareness to the [refugee] communities so that they may know exactly what is happening”.

From these discussions, we recognised the need to strengthen climate literacy and adaptive capacity in a participatory, community-centred format. Together with an environmental organisation that supports local communities vulnerable to the effects of climate change, Saint Andrews Refugee Services (StARS) piloted a participatory model of climate literacy workshops, engaging refugees from various countries of origin, ranging from one-day workshops to a curriculum of workshops spanning up to eight sessions.

Rather than focusing on abstract science, the workshops aimed to draw connections between the global climate crises and the participants’ lived experiences of climate hazards in their countries of origin, providing a space for personal reflection on their journeys of displacement. Through the use of multimedia, storytelling, guest speakers, case studies of the participants’ countries of origin and collective reflection, our approach centred on encouraging mutual learning and fostering engagement. The process revealed the importance of making meaningful connections between climate change and lived realities and priority needs, including health, protection and livelihoods, exploring environmentally friendly means of income generation given the financial difficulties displaced communities often face. Our approach helped us understand how climate literacy is often rooted in memories of home and belonging, and how forced displacement can fracture and diminish climate awareness when the priority becomes survival in a new place.

Crucially, our approach led to meaningful outcomes. By the end of the workshops, the overwhelming majority of participants expressed a strong understanding of the connections between climate and displacement. Many of them also said that they intended to share their knowledge within their communities, hoping to spread awareness and inspire positive change, particularly among children and young people. To support their efforts, we are developing a comprehensive facilitation guide, in English and Arabic, that will be shared with participants to assist them in conducting their own climate literacy workshops. In the meantime, one RLO has already launched workshops focused on raising awareness, encouraging environmentally friendly behaviour and supporting adaptation, inspired by the climate literacy workshops they had participated in with StARS.

The takeaways are evident: when displaced people are engaged not just as recipients of information but as co-creators of climate knowledge made accessible and relevant to them, the result is deeper understanding, action and leadership from within their own communities.

Knowledge and participation: a personal perspective

One author’s first-hand experience illustrates how climate knowledge enables refugees and migrants to participate in conversations and decisions that deeply affect their lives and enables the development of community-led solutions.

“As a displaced person myself and a founder of a volunteer organisation in support of displaced youth living in Cairo, I have seen firsthand how access to knowledge and information can transform lives” Emmanuel says.

“In 2022, I was selected to volunteer and support global delegates at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh. It was my first time witnessing a major global event. But what surprised me was the absence of refugees in conversations that directly concerned them. While displacement, migration, refugees and climate change were discussed, no actual refugees contributed to these discussions. We were there as helpers, not as leaders, not as participants and not as equals. It was from that moment I, together with my friend, said enough of others speaking on our behalf. It is time to speak for ourselves.

Before attending COP27, I had little understanding of what climate change truly meant, I thought of it only as a natural disaster. Yet, I had already witnessed its impact on my country, South Sudan. My own displacement was influenced both by climate change and conflict, and many of my fellow countrymen and women are still affected today.

Upon returning from COP27, we started documenting our experiences and the challenges faced during the event. That experience sparked the creation of Refugee Voice on Climate Change (RVCC), a refugee-led initiative working to amplify the voices of displaced people in global climate discussions and platforms. RVCC’s mission is simple: we work to empower people with lived experience of displacement to demand global action in recognition of climate-induced displacement and mobility. Both my friend and I later took an active part in StARS’ workshops.”

RVCC’s work now also includes a project centered around climate education and community awareness that uses storytelling as a tool to communicate the lived experiences of those affected by climate change. Through these stories it raises awareness, challenges stereotypes and inspires communities to respond to climate change and develop adaptation strategies. Through mentorship and support, RVCC has also enabled a colleague to lead a team of 15 young refugees and migrants who organise climate literacy sessions and outreach programmes in community schools across Greater Cairo. His story demonstrates the power that goes with knowledge and the recognition that refugees are not just recipients of aid, but leaders of change.

When refugees are not aware of what climate change is or how to protect themselves from its effects, they will be unable to take action. They will also be unable to participate in important discussions, community adaptations and other decision-making, action-oriented spaces. When refugees are empowered with knowledge, they develop more capacity to become leaders and bring fresh ideas, new energy and mindful solutions rooted in local realities.

Recommendations

Based on our experiences, we recommend that researchers, service providers, donors and practitioners take the following steps to co-develop climate literacy and communication strategies grounded in displaced communities’ lived experiences – thereby laying the ground for refugee-led, community-based adaptation strategies to be successful:

Expand the knowledge base on climate risks that refugees face along their journeys of displacement. Large parts of the current research landscape focus on how climate change shapes internal displacement. Yet, climate change also drives cross-border displacement and affects the lives of refugees in host countries. As such, researchers should map refugees’ climate-related exposure and vulnerabilities along their journeys of displacement, adopting a holistic view covering countries of origin and transit as well as host countries. Centring refugees’ lived experience, research should be based on participatory methods and give special attention to intersectional vulnerabilities.
Tailor climate change communication to refugees’ lived experiences of displacement to strengthen their adaptive capacity. Refugees’ experience of displacement, both past and present, shapes the narratives, themes and frames that resonate with them regarding climate change. To be effective, any communication around climate change – and as such, any activities supporting refugees’ risk preparedness and adaptive capacity – needs to be grounded in that lived experience, and to be developed with and by refugees.
Strengthen climate-sensitive, refugee-led and community-based services. Refugees – equipped with the right resources and support – are best placed to address the climate risks their communities face and provide the services they need. Refugee-led, community-based risk preparedness and adaptation activities often not only have the trust of displaced communities, they are also more effective and long lasting.
Shape climate-related policy and decision-making spaces to be led by refugees. People with experience of displacement remain systematically marginalised in policy and decision-making processes; climate change is no exception. Recognising the role that refugees play in implementing and leading solutions to the climate risks they face, policy- and decision-makers must ensure that they shape their spheres of influence to meaningfully engage with and include refugees.

Philippa Weichs
Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, Saint Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS)
pweichs@stars-egypt.org

Emmanuel Zangako Peter
Founder and Executive Director, Refugee Voice on Climate Change
emmanuel.zangakopeter@gmail.com

Isaiah Du Pree
Policy and Advocacy Officer, Saint Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS)
idupree@stars-egypt.org

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