Migration as a Climate Adaptation Strategy

Migration as a Climate Adaptation Strategy

State of the World 2015: Confronting Hidden Threats to Sustainability | Worldwatch Institute
Chapter 9 Preview | François Gemenne
“Whether climate-induced migration
will be an adaptation failure or
Migration as a Climate Adaptation Strategy
success depends not only on climate
impacts, but—most importanly—
Will we be ready to respond to migrating
communities as our environment changes?
on the policy choices that are
made today.”
P
opulation displacements
today, but they could have
due to climate change and
deeply destabilizing economic
other adverse environmental
and political consequences in
developments could undermine
the future. François Gemenne
the social fabric of affected
argues that timely adaptation
societies as well as trigger
measures—including support
growing competition over re-
for migrants as well as for
sources, jobs, and social services those who lack the resources
in receiving areas. The speed,
to move—can help individuals
direction, and extent of such
and societies at large cope
population movements remain
with the repercussions of a
largely the stuff of conjecture
changing climate.
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Our paramount goal
should be to enable
people’s right to choose
whether to migrate or
stay. Yet unabated climate
change is likely to result in
the loss of this freedom.
François Gemenne is executive director of the Politics of the Earth program
at Sciences Po in Paris and a senior
research associate with the University
of Liège in Belgium.