European leaders are expected to offer countries from which migrants originate billions in aid in a bid to tackle the economic and security issues that prompt people to leave.
John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, drew the link between climate change and migration in an address at Old Dominion University in Virginia on Tuesday.
“People who can no longer make a decent living the way their families have for generations – by farming, fishing, herding – will have no choice but to seek other opportunities, mostly in other places,” he said.
This year’s El Niño phenomenon is tipped to be the strongest ever– with one scientist dubbing it the “Godzilla El Niño”. Scientists say its instances and intensity have increased in recent decades and point to climate change as a cause, though others say that is unproven.