An international rights group says the United States should accept millions of refugees who will be forced to flee the effects of climate change. Refugees International is a group that supports displaced people around the world. It released its report Wednesday. The group says the United States “has a special responsibility to lead on issues of climate change, migration and displacement.” The Institute of Economics and Peace is a not-for-profit research group based in Australia. It estimates that as many as 1.2 billion people around the world could be displaced by 2050. Refugees International created a task force in the spring to produce its report. It is made up of former U.S. government and United Nations officials. Leaders of non-governmental groups and climate experts are also involved. Their report urges that: “From Haiti and Honduras to Bangladesh, Burkina Faso and thousands of communities in both the Global South and Global North, those at risk need policy solutions today.” Kayly Ober is with Refugees International. She said her group “believes that the Biden administration should acknowledge the reality of climate-related migration and offer new forms of protection and support” for the displaced. The task force is also advising that the U.S. should recognize people displaced by climate change face “what would amount to persecution” under the 1951 United Nations treaty on refugees. In February, U.S. President Joe Biden asked National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to examine how to identify and resettle people who will be displaced by climate change. A top administration official told VOA that the administration is “actively working on a report on climate change and its impact on migration, including forced migration, internal displacement and planned relocation.” The official said that a version of the report would be made public by the fall. U.S. Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, a Democratic Party member, is supporting legislation on that issue. It would offer support for people fleeing climate change events who do not meet the definition of a refugee under international law.