A new guest knocks at the door of the Copenhagen Climate summit scheduled for early December. As part of the preparatory climate talks for Copenhagen at the beginning of June, the relevance of climate-induced migration found its way into the negotiation text on topics of long-term cooperative action. The relevance of this issue was also underlined by a report entitled "Search of Shelter: Mapping the Effects of Climate Change on Human Migration and Displacement". This report, published by the United Nations University, Care International and a number of other institutions, provides information for decision-making. It does not, however, repeat the announcement of alarmist numbers of future climate migrants, which have caused some criticism in the past because of their difficult empirical and methodological basis. Instead, the policy recommendations of the report are based on 23 case studies and on interviews with about 1,000 migrants and nearly as many non-migrants.

The research reveals inter alia the convergence of climate change and other global trends. In Senegal, for example, migrants increasingly move back to the countryside due to global economic crisis. However, since the areas they are returning to are often degraded, competition over access to land is increasing. By focusing on people's experiences with displacement under extreme environmental conditions that are most likely early signs of a changing climate, the authors give further reason to agree on a strong adaptation framework at the end of this year. Among the policy recommendations is a call for prioritizing the world's most vulnerable populations, to ensure that adaptation funding reaches those who are most in need of shelter. In order to address the remaining gaps of climate-induced migration and to bring this topic to the attention of decision makers, the German Marshall Fund of the United States launched a new initiative. A transatlantic study team has been established to bring together experts from the fields of climate and migration studies. Findings from the group's activities will be published in June 2010 – which, in light of the creeping international climate change process, is still early enough to provide ideas for international adaptation efforts. (Dennis Taenzler)



The report "Search of Shelter: Mapping the Effects of Climate Change on Human Migration and Displacement" is available at: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/article:744



For more information on the GMF Transatlantic Studies Group, please see http://www.gmfus.org/press/article.cfm?id=182&parent_type=R or contact Astrid Ziebarth at the German Marshall Fund: ziebarth@gmfus.org

 

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, June 2009