Introduction

I am a student studying Sales and Business Marketing at Western Michigan University. I recognize that the accelerating climate issue is changing the path of human civilization. Many areas of the world are being disrupted, like communities, supply chains, and frankly, every sector of this planet. Climate migration is the movement of people forced from their homes by rising seas, drought, extreme heat, and lack of resources, and it is already the change of the 21st century. The United Nations estimates that by 2050, between 216 million and 1 billion people could be displaced from their own countries due to climate-related issues alone.

The sales and marketing profession has a unique role in this crisis: as people in consumer behavior, create narrative, and market access, our industry both reflects and shapes how societies respond to displacement and change. This will call on our profession to lead with integrity, reject the blaming of climate migrants, and see displaced people as the resilient, important contributors they are, and have always been.

SECTION I: CLIMATE MIGRATION AS A MARKET-SHAPING FORCE

Climate migration is not a humanitarian issue separate from the economy; it is a market-changing force that will change sales territories, customers, and supply chains. And the next generation of business. Sales leaders who fail to understand this will be left behind by it.

Market Reality

By 2030, climate-driven displacement is projected to create over $300 billion in annual demand for goods, services, infrastructure, housing, healthcare, and workforce. Organizations that see this early on will help tomorrow's growth.

Climate migration changes the economy through many channels: disruption of market geography, like coastal retail, agricultural supply chains, and tourism. The next is the change of consumer bases. Climate migrants are tomorrow's customers, carrying purchasing power and new needs. Supply chain issues like the agricultural and manufacturing labor mess with product availability.

SECTION II: THE Blaming PROBLEM 

The same persuasion techniques that drive high-conversion sales techniques like urgency, threat framing, identity, and us-versus-them narratives are the same problems used by people to blame climate migrants for economic problems these people did not create (We did). Sales and marketing professionals have a responsibility to recognize when their tools are being used for more harm than good.

It is clear that immigrants and refugees are big contributors to communities. They start businesses at higher rates than native-born populations, fill critical labor shortages, and help boost local economies. Immigrant-owned businesses in the United States generate over $1.3 trillion in annual revenue. Research shows that for every 1,000 refugees admitted, over 100 new jobs are created. The blaming narrative is not only morally wrong but also factually inaccurate, and sales professionals who value data-driven decision-making should reject it on that alone.

Industry Ethics Ideas

The persuasion science that makes great salespeople can also be used to harm immigrants. Professionals who understand this have a responsibility to reject its use in blaming vulnerable people 

SECTION III: CALLS TO ACTION

Core Principles for Sales & Marketing Organizations

•       Dignity: Treat climate-displaced people with the same respect as any other group of people. Genuinely try to see their needs; do not confuse vulnerability with helplessness.

•       Narrative: Refuse to develop or help campaigns that rely on fear of migrants or displaced people to drive fear, regardless of who they are.

•       Supply Chain Clarity: Make sure to talk about climate issues and labor conditions in your supply chains.

•       Equal Access: Make sure marketing materials and sales processes are accessible and do not discriminate against climate-displaced people.

Calls to Action

•       Organizations: Create climate migration literacy programs for sales teams, include displacement risk in long-range territory planning, and partner with people to understand the real needs of displaced communities.

•       Individual Professionals: Educate yourself on the facts of climate migration, refuse campaigns that exploit migrant fear, and advocate within trade for humane, climate market development.

•       Advertising: Platforms should create content policies against anti-migrant fear. Business schools should add climate migration to their school’s curriculum.

CONCLUSION

The climate crisis is not coming…...it is here. The people displaced by it are not threats to our markets; they are our markets' future. We need stability, and stability requires the global cooperation that blaming migrants for a problem they didn’t create destroys. Sales professionals who lead with data and long-term thinking will see climate migrants as what they are: resilient people with needs, skills, and purchasing power. A world that manages climate migration with honor is a world with more customers, more stable supply chains, and stronger economies. The choice is not between compassion and commerce; it is between fear and market intelligence.

Academic Note

This document was created as a class project exploring climate migration and the sales and marketing profession. It does not show the official business. AI like Claude was used in drafting and organization; all facts and arguments that were used were reviewed by me.

References

World Bank. (2021). Groundswell: Acting on Internal Climate Migration. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. Retrieved from worldbank.org/groundswell

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2022). Sixth Assessment Report: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Geneva: IPCC. Retrieved from ipcc.ch/report/ar6

New American Economy. (2022). The Contributions of New Americans. New York: NAE Research Fund. Retrieved from newamericaneconomy.org/research