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General information
Climate change refugees @ Green Cross Australia
Climate Refugee Overview @ National Geographic Society
Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR)
Institutions ~ International organizations
· Institutions that work on mitigating and stopping the climate refugee crisis as well as resources
for specific projects.
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
UN High Commisioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
UN International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Environmental Migration Portal
· Database on the current environmental refugee crises, recent studies published by relevant
organizations, profiles on the environmental refugee activity in specific countries, and policy briefs,
explanations, and general information.
UN University Migration Network
Institutions ~ Research & info
· “...aim is to look in to the environmental consequences and pressure that the Syrian crisis
and refugee situation has on the countries that have received, and are currently hosting,
large amounts of refugees.”
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)
Kaldor Center for International Refugee Law
Climate Change and Migration Dynamics
Migration information Source ~ Special issue on climate change
Changing Climate, Changing Migration podcast
Institutions ~ NGOs & initiatives
Climate and Migration Coalition
Climate Migrants and Refugees Project
Climate Change, Environment and Migration Alliance (CCEMA)
· Appears to be defunct (link is to a description of the project)
· Founded 2015
· Provides consistent and recent updates on current climate refugee migrations
· Raises awareness on climate refugees through the medium of storytelling (personal, on-the-ground
reporting), campaigns, and actions
Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) Climate Campaign
Island, coastal & ocean-based migration
· Also see Sea level rise page.
Kiribati: Relocation Action Page
Tuvalu - Climate Change and Migration (UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security)
Climate Change Migration (UN Sustainable Development)
Arctic Climate Displacement and Migration
Climate Change and Migration: A Case Study from Rural Bangladesh
Haiti - Climate Change & Natural Disasters (IOM)
Documentary films
Select readings on climate & environmental refugees
· In reverse chronological order
Forced displacement and climate change: Time for global governance
· 2020 ~ Rosemary McCarney, Jonathen Kent ~ International Journal
· Policy brief that emphasizes the need for swift and effective global governance concerning
forced displacement due to onset effects of climate change
· Stresses Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) commitments and adaptation practices
· Climate refugees are not a developed vs. developing issue—the most vulnerable are at risk regardless of these distinctions
The climate crisis, migration, and refugees
· 2019, John Podesta, Brookings
· This article discusses how extreme weather events of unprecedented severity are occurring increasingly
frequently in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America compared to wealthy regions such as
New Zealand, Australia, and parts of the US
· Highlights specific instances when climate change was considered the sole factor for forced migration,
citing the example of 12 inch sea level rise in the Pacific Islands as one, drought and desertification West
Africa as another, and cyclones in Asia as a third
· 2019 ~ Robynne Boyd ~ Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
· Important example of climate refugees in the setting of the “Global North”
· Severe land loss due to sea level rise is displacing an Indigenous community that was forcibly relocated to the Isle in the 1830s
Why Climate Migrants do not have Refugee Status
· 2018 ~ Economist
New Zealand Proposes Humanitarian Visa for ‘Climate Refugees.’
· Randall, Alex. 2017. The Diplomat
The Atlas of Environmental Migration
· 2017 ~ Ionesco, Dina, Mokhnacheva, Daria, Gemenne, François
Climate change, migration, and displacement: The underestimated disaster.
· Bedarff, Hildegard, and Cord Jakobeit. 2017. Greenpeace Germany.
Migration, Displacement, and Climate Change
· Adamo, Susana B. 2016.
· Key document from UNGA Refugee Summit
· 2015 ~ Chris Methmann, Angela Oels ~ Security Dialogue
· The research article discusses the strange notion that climate migration is an acceptable form of climate adaptation/resilience
· Climate refugees will need special, inarguable legal status as not all lands will be saved from sea level rise or other effects of climate change
Assessing the evidence: Migration, environment and climate change in Papua New Guinea
· 2015. Naser, Mostafa. International Organization for Migration.
Brookings-LSE. 2014. Climate Change and Internal Displacement.
Martin, Susan. 2013. Environmental Change and Migration: What We Know.
Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Migration and Conflict.
· 2008 ~ Raleigh, Clionadh, Jordan, Lisa, Salehyan, Idean
· 2007 ~ Alex Randall ~ Climate and Migrant Coalition (founded by Climate Outreach
· Provides two examples of disasters made worse by climate change, one rapid-onset disaster
(Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines) and one slow-onset disaster (2011 Drought, Horn of Africa)
· Explains human migrations worsened by climate change through variations of refugee movement patterns
Maya Haubrich (2022), Aaron Pins (2019) & Lissa Sangree-Calabrese (2018) of Brandeis University contributed this page.
Environmental & climate migration, refugees & IDPs
Contents of this page:
· General Information
· Institutions
~ International organizations
~ Research
· Island, coastal, and ocean-based migration
Environmental & climate refugees are defined as individuals who have been forced to leave their home countries due to environmental conditions or climatic changes that have made the areas where they previously lived inhospitable or highly undesirable.
Internally displaced people (IDPs) have not crossed a border, but have had to evacuate from their homes.
