Who has gauged the impact 'Climate Change Refugees' will have on slum statistics?

As the UN report that China and India have together lifted 125 million people out of slums in the last decade, fears will continue to grow over the generation of 'Climate Change Refugees (CCR)' who will have to relocate to slums after the impact of climate change.


As India lifts many millions of people out of slums, they will now have to compete with the growing number of refugees fleeing the drowning lands of Bangladesh. Where can they live? And will India support the influx of CCRs? By the looks of things, no. India are still preventing their Eastern neighbours travelling over the border with their 2,500 mile barbed wire fence - unfortunately this doesn't stop those fleeing from trying to get over.


Climate change can also be blamed for the rise in natural disasters, which have devastated communities in Haiti and Sri Lanka. Without appreciating the seriousness of climate change and the potential devastation it will cause, how will the UN development goals to reduce the amount of people living in slum conditions actually be reached?


Films such as Slumdog Millionaire were scrunitised for glamorising slum conditions, however as the National Geographic reported, the number of people travelling to Mumbai increased - potentially resulting in people pledging donations to their cause.


Photographer, Jonas Bendiksen, displayed a good insight into life in the slums with his exhibition The Places We Live, where he not only photographed people living in the slums but spent two years experiencing them for himself.


He focused on the positives, stating his reason for the project as:


"When one thinks of a slum, one has this monolithic image of it is as a den of hopelessness, crime and poverty. But one billion people live in them today. I thought this bleak picture could not really be the case for everyone."


Although obviously the lack of sanitation in these conditions can lead to fatal diseases such as cholera, Benikson's exhibition gives a different perspective, it looks through the eyes of people living in slums.