Collectif Argos: Climate Refugees

Environmental effects on human migration constitute an important area in the study of the relationship between population and the environment. In the past decade, there has been growing attention to the populations displaced by floods, storm surges, droughts, and other environmental hazards which will be exacerbated by climate change. Increased concerns about the impacts of global climate and environmental change on human mobility have fueled strong media and academic interest in climate induced migration. Climate Refugees stands out among the many publications on climate change and migration in recent years. With vivid photographs and well-written narratives, it presents a striking picture of human displacement and migration resulting from climate-related disasters. The book includes nine cases of climate migrants which span the thematic and the geographic spectrums of the issue. Although much of the current discussion on climate induced migration tends to focus on sudden-onset disasters, the book also covers population mobility associated with slow-onset environmental changes. From devastating floods in Bangladesh to rising sea levels jeopardizing the island nations of Tuvalu and Maldives and the Halligen of Germany, from violent hurricanes threatening the gulf coast of the United States to increasing desertification in Chad and China and permafrost and glacial melting in Alaska and Nepal, the Collectif Argos team has done an excellent job in exploring the human migration implications of global warming and related environmental changes. The authors use the term “climate refugee” to challenge the restrictive definition of refugees adopted by the Geneva Convention of 1951. Nevertheless, by including a diverse body of migration cases, this book encompasses much wider dimensions of climate induced migration than its title conveys. Although similar terms, such as climate change refugees, climate migrants, climate change migration, and climate forced migration are often used interchangeably in the literature on climate change and migration, there are subtle differences among their definitions. The differentiation between climate refugees and migrants mirrors the debate on refugee-like and migrant-like environmental migration situations in general. Climate change induced voluntary migration and forced displacement can be viewed as the opposite ends of a continuum of possible mobility forms (Warner 2010). Climate refugee or displacement status indicates involuntary movement forced by climate change’s detrimental effects. By contrast, climate or environmental migrants generally have at least some control over where and when to move to cope with climate change impacts. However, it is not always practical to draw a clear distinction between forced and voluntary motivation in climate induced migration. The term “climate refugee” usually conjures up sad images of helpless displaced people with few alternatives for survival. The story of the New Orleans family described in this book suggests even involuntarily displaced people themselves are unwilling to be labeled as climate refugees, indicating that the more neutral term of “climate migrant” 1 2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Two international conferences specifically on climate change and displacement were held this year: the Nansen Conference organized by the Norwegian Government (Oslo, Norway, June 5–7) and an expert roundtable organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Bellagio, Italy, February 22–25). In addition, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) held a workshop focusing on climate change, environmental degradation and migration in Geneva, Switzerland, March, 29–30.