Washington, DC \u2010\u2010 Refugees International announced plans to establish the Ken and
Darcy Bacon Center for the Study of Climate Displacement today. The Center will
use Refugees International's successful advocacy model to work towards stronger
policies and structures that meet the needs of the tens of millions of people expected
to be displaced by climate change in the coming decades.

"I wanted to make this gift to ensure that Refugees International's mission can
incorporate the global changes that will create displacement in future years," said
Ken Bacon, president of Refugees International since 2001, who is currently battling
melanoma and is on leave. "Climate change will force millions of people from their
homes and this will pose enormous challenges to an already stressed humanitarian
system. Refugees International is uniquely situated to ensure these people don't fall
through the cracks."

A generous donation by Ken and Darcy Bacon provided the seed money for the new
center, which will be a new program within Refugees International. The UN
Foundation, Refugees International board member and actor Sam Waterston, and
other members of RI's board of directors have matched their initial donation.
Refugees International's other priorities include improving the global response to
neglected crises and internal displacement, increasing support for people who
return home when wars end, strengthening UN peacekeeping efforts, and achieving
citizenship for stateless people.

The most immediate threats from climate change are in the form of storms of
increasing intensity, such as Cyclone Nargis in Burma; greater incidence of drought
and floods that make traditional livelihoods unsustainable; and increased conflicts
over access to limited resources. The war in Darfur derives, in part, from conflict
over scarce resources as the desert expands. Other dramatic impacts are also
predicted in the long term, such as the disappearance of island states like the
Maldives. Estimates of the numbers of people expected to be displaced by climate