Analysing environmental migration and displacement from a legal and geographical perspective and the use of migration as a possible adaptation strategy

Abstract

This thesis, composed of three chapters, is based on the recognition of the existence of a link between environmental and climate change and migration, which materializes itself in the phenomenon of environmental migration. The first chapter examines this nexus with a focus on three aspects, environmental change as a driver of migration, climate change as a threat multiplier, and immobility in the face of difficult environmental conditions, while also presenting some statistics and predictions of the current and future number of environmental migrants. The second chapter is devoted to the legal framework. It investigates the absence of an internationally recognized definition for these migrants, exploring the most significant legal instruments in this field. The chapter also presents an overview of the milestones in the global governance of environmental migration and displacement. The third chapter depicts a world map of environmental migration: it focuses on the most impacted areas, South Asia, Africa, the American continent, and the Pacific Small Island Developing States, describing their slow- and sudden-onset environmental processes and patterns of migration. The chapter then investigates the use of migration as a possible adaptation strategy, analysing the potential advantages and problems and presenting a case-study on Kiribati and its ‘Migration with Dignity Policy’. The central purpose of this work is to propose the view of migration as part of the solution to adverse environmental changes: migration can be a beneficial adaptation strategy and, in some cases, the only possible response to the harmful effects of climate change.