Climate-Induced Migration: Global Scope, Regional Impacts and National Policy Frameworks

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, globally more than 24 million people were displaced annually between 2008 and 2018 due to climate-related hazards, within and across borders. Large-scale migration in response to sudden-onset climate-related disasters and slow-onset environmental degradation and sea-level rise will place increased pressure on livelihoods, public health systems, infrastructure, and social services. This area of research requires attention to complex drivers as climate-induced reasons for migration interact with social, gendered, economic, and cultural contexts that produce diverse populations that either embark on uncertain migration trajectories or are unable to migrate.
Our consortium of WUN academics and non-WUN partners will contribute to a better understanding of when, where, how and at what scale climate-induced migration takes place in different world regions. It will do so through a structured analysis of existing studies on this phenomenon, a systematic stock-taking of available research expertise across WUN members, and a global analysis of policy and legal frameworks pertaining to climate-induced migration. The findings are expected to help inform policy measures in the field of international and internal migration and improve legal frameworks at the national and international level for the protection of so-called climate migrants. The research consortium will operate in three regional clusters, and its activities will be supported by a series of virtual meetings, a thematic session at a major international conference and a four-day workshop. Research outputs envisaged during the one-year funding period are a guest-edited special issue in a high-impact migration studies journal and an edited book collection with a reputable publishing house. In the medium term, it is envisaged to develop a “WUN Research Network for Global Climate-Induced Migration” that will operate under a combination of external and internal funding arrangements.