Migration and Climate Change
Attachments
Dr Khalid Koser
Introduction
The impact of climate change on migration has attracted considerable attention in recent years, among academics, but also in media coverage and on the political agenda. Although there is a striking lack of scientific consensus on what these effects will be, and how many people will be affected, there has been a tendency to pose migration resulting from the effects of climate change as a serious threat, especially in Europe. In the spirit of promoting objective debate and evidence-based policy, this short article attempts to summarize the existing research. It starts by explaining that the link between climate change and migration is by no means straightforward. It then focuses on some of the key questions: how many people will be affected, where will they come from, and where will they go? The final section summarizes the current debate concerning policy responses.