Topic 1
Research in South America uses case studies of natural disasters to posit linkages between climate change and migration. Climate variability and land suitability can also affect migration as environmental threats, but research tends to focus on natural disasters when people are regularly forced move. Where, when, and whether they move is affected by socioeconomic status and demographic characteristics.[6] Migrations happen gradually or suddenly but typically flow from rural to urban areas. Environmental changes heavily influence migration outside the home country, whereas inter-provincial migration less so.[7] Events such as drought and hurricanes have particular effects on youth migration. Youth are more likely to migrate as a response to climate related events. While most migration is rural-to-urban, research finds children frequently travels to find closer economic opportunities in rural destinations.[8]
Since policy making bodies like local governments and global governance institutions most affect responses in a migration event researchers, such as Elena Correa suggest reviewing terms that define who is an environmental migrant.[9] Peoples who are displaced who do not fit the exact terms of who is an environmental refugee are essential unaccounted for. The cases in which preventive resettlement appear appropriate is typically discerned by local and governmental bodies. [10]Other scholars call for an increase in social programs to both prevent and help in a migration event. [11]Because of the increased projection of displaced peoples as a result of climate change, and the interest in this topic in the past decade some researchers call for a measure called preventive resettlement.
Since most climate migration studies take place in the developed world, scientists call for more quantitative research within the developing world including South America.[7]
Topic 2
Intervention by intergovernmental organizations and policy makers into migration events depends on factors such as security concerns, political obligations and alliances and human rights.[1] Some of the organizations that would be big players in an environmental crisis are the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Bank, the Red Cross, the World Health Organization and Amnesty International. [2] The topic of environmental crisis and migration has been popular for decades among intergovernmental bodies such as in the 1992 U.N Framework Convention on Climate Change and most recently the 2017 U.N Climate Change Conference, and is often framed in terms of security and human rights concerns. Climate Change currently remains an indirect security threat according to The U.N Security Council.[3]
The U.N High Commissioner for Refugees currently outlines that climate or environmental factors do not enter the realm of “refugee” status. The politics surrounding who is and who is not a “climate refugee” often muddle real time response. In turn, those who would identify under that category are virtually never recognized due to a lack of clarity of who is in charge of collecting that data. Researchers suggest further development into mixed methods research following migration events since they are inherently context and subject specific[5] A climate event inducing migration is often framed in terms of lack of resources or ineffective adaptation response. These migration events are typically within underdeveloped areas within the country in which it occurred. Socioeconomic status of country is often taken in terms to highlight response gaps. Despite the political reasons, human migration as a result of changes in the climate is an inevitable concern, reinforcing the need for policies and programs to mitigate the future risk.[4]
Topic 3
The rhetoric of Migration being related to Climate Change is complex and disputed. However, It is widely accepted that the results of migration events are multi-causal, with the environment being just a factor amongst many. Outside of policy, human rights organizations, expert demographers and environmental climate scientists dominate this debate. Many discussions are based on projections and less with current migration data.[12] While many migration events can be attributed to sudden environmental change, most migration events are a result of long term environmental changes and do not cause sudden migration.[4] Some scholars attribute these events to sudden environmental changes, like natural disasters. Some choose to label it “climate change”, which reflects a more long term onset of change, and the human impact element.[13] It is helpful to provide an intersectional approach to this discussion and understand that focusing on Climate Change as the issue frames the debate in terms of projections, causing the research to be speculative. Migration as tool for climate change adaptation is projected to be a more pressing issue in the decade to come. [14] It is often framed in terms of human rights issues and national security. Migration events are often seen as a failure of the governments or policy making bodies that could not contain or effectively manage environmental changes. [15] For example, extreme drought events in the Caribbean proliferate movement of peoples because of the lack of water.[7] This is often seen as a failure on the local governments to provide structural and independent resources. These adaptation failures that have been the topic of concern for many scholars researching this area. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has been viewed as one of the highest authorities and moral right and resources to help those displaced. [16]Japswep21 (talk) 15:28, 12 December 2017 (UTC)
Shirley V Scott, & Roberta C D Andrade. (2012). The global response to climate change: Can the security council assume a lead role? The Brown Journal of World Affairs, 18(2), 215.
4. Ferris, Elizabeth. "Climate-Induced Resettlement: Environmental Change and the Planned Relocation of Communities." SAIS Review of International Affairs 35, no. 1 (2015): 109-117.
Moniruzzaman, M. (2016). Climate and Human Migration: Past Experiences, Future Challenges Robert A.McLeman, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2014, 300 pp. (ISBN 978-1107606708) . The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 60(2), e24–e25. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12267
Adamo,S.(2008).Addressing environmentally induced population displacements:A delicate task.Background Paper for the Environment Research Network Cyberseminar on Environmentally Induced Population Displacements. Available at http://www.populationenvironmentresearch.org.Cited December 21, 2009.
Baldwin, A., & Fornalé, E. (2017). Adaptive migration: pluralising the debate on climate change and migration. The Geographical Journal, 183(4), 322–328. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12242
Ober, K., & Sakdapolrak, P. (2017). How do social practices shape policy? Analysing the field of “migration as adaptation” with Bourdieu’s “Theory of Practice.” The Geographical Journal, 183(4), 359–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12225