Berkeley Talks: Climate displacement and remaking the built environment

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Don Pepe stands in his home in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico, six weeks after Hurricane Maria struck the island in 2017. The World Bank estimates that, by 2050, more than 200 million people could be displaced from their homes because of climate change impacts, including extreme weather events. (Photo by Pablo Paredes)

The World Bank estimates that, by 2050, more than 200 million people could be forced to leave their homes because of climate change impacts. These impacts include water scarcity, low crop productivity, sea level rise and also, less livability because of heat stress, extreme weather events and land loss. Those living in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America will be the hardest hit.

A new Berkeley News series examines how the campus community is confronting the climate crisis.

In Berkeley Talks episode 143, a panel of UC Berkeley experts discuss climate displacement — what it means to abandon places, the power dynamics between the Global South and the Global North, challenges for both the sending and receiving regions, and what needs to happen to address this fast-growing problem.

Panelists include faculty members from Berkeley’s new cluster in climate equity and environmental justice:

• Maya Carrasquillo, civil and environmental engineering
• Daniel Aldana Cohen, sociology
• Zoe Hamstead, city and regional planning
• Danielle Rivera, landscape architecture and environmental planning
• Moderated by Karen Chapple, director of Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project and the University of Toronto’s School of Cities

This April 25 event is part of Cal Performances’ Illuminations: Place and Displacement series.

Watch a video of the panel on Cal Performances’ YouTube page.

Listen to other episodes of Berkeley Talks: