The State of Environmental Migration

The State of Environmental Migration series gathers the expertise of researchers, students and professionals to provide an annual assessment of the changing nature and dynamics of environment- and climate-related migration throughout the world.

The State of Environmental Migration 2020

This volume is the tenth in the annual series and the fifth of its kind published with the Presses Universitaires de Liège. The State of Environmental Migration aims to provide its readership with the most updated assessments on recent events and evolving dynamics of environmental migration throughout the world. Each year, the editors select the best graduate student work from the course “Environment and Migration” taught by Caroline Zickgraf at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po. This year’s authors focus primarily on sudden-onset displacement events, including the Australian megafires, the dam failure in Brumadinho (Brazil), the floods in Budrio (Italy), the Kerala floods (India), and cyclones Idai and Fani in Mozambique and India. The relationship between drought and conflict-related internal displacement in Somalia’s Bay Region, as well as the importance of populations’ perceptions of environmental risk on (im)mobility outcomes during acqua alta in Venice are analysed and discussed.

The State of Environmental Migration 2019

In this edition, the ninth volume in the annual series, the effects on migration and displacement of some of the most dramatic disasters of 2018 are studied, including the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, Hurricane Florence and Camp Fire (which was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history) in the United States, and the Volcán de Fuego eruption in Guatemala. The relationship between progressive environmental changes and migration in the Nepalese Hindu Kush Himalayas, and the effects of armed conflicts on the prevention and management of disaster-induced displacement in Afghanistan are also analysed and discussed.

The State of Environmental Migration 2018

This volume is the eight in the annual series and the third of its kind published with the Presses Universitaires de Liège. The State of Environmental Migration aims to provide its readership with the most updated assessments on recent events and evolving dynamics of environmental migration throughout the world. Each year, the editors select the best graduate student work from the course “Environment and Migration”, taught by François Gemenne and Caroline Zickgraf at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po. Presented in this edition are displacements induced by some of the most dramatic disaster events of 2017, including Hurricane Irma and Cyclone Enawo, as well as analyses of migration flows related to a variety of environmental occurrences throughout the year spanning the globe. SEM 2018 thus represents another stepping stone towards understanding how the adverse effects of climate change and disasters alter migration patterns.

The State of Environmental Migration 2017 

This volume is the seventh in the annual series and the second of its kind published with the Presses Universitaires de Liège. The State of Environmental Migration aims to provide its readership with the most updated assessments on recent events and evolving dynamics of environmental migration throughout the world. Each year, the editors select the best graduate student work from the course “Environment and Migration”, taught by François Gemenne and Caroline Zickgraf, at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po. Presented in this edition are displacements induced by some of the most dramatic disaster events of 2016, including Hurricane Matthew, as well as analyses of migration flows related to a variety of environmental occurrences throughout the year spanning the globe. SEM 2017 thus represents another stepping stone towards understanding the broad spectrum that is environmental migration.

The State of Environmental Migration 2016

The State of Environmental Migration 2016: Review of the Year 2015 is the sixth annual volume of the series, which selects and compiles Masters students’ work from the course “Environment and Migration” at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po in an ongoing partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Each year, students detail and analyze the year’s environmental events insofar as they have affected various forms of migration. This volume includes several important illustrations: landslides in Colombia, floods in India, an earthquake in Pakistan.

Overall, 2015 has been a key year with regard to policy developments relating to environmental migration issues. First, the Nansen Initiative, an intergovernmental process launched in 2012 by the governments of Norway and Switzerland, concluded in October with the adoption by 109 States of a Protection Agenda that outlines the rights of those displaced across borders by disasters. Secondly, the adoption of the Paris Agreement at the COP21 in December of 2015 was the key policy event of the year. The first universal agreement on climate change is mostly focused on greenhouse gas emissions reductions, but also addresses migration and displacement, as it created a task force to advise the UNFCCC bodies on these issues. The task force is expected to serve as a hub for the integration of research and policy on climate change and migration in the UNFCCC negotiations, and should be established as part of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss & Damage. This new edition of The State of Environmental Migration will hopefully serve as a reminder of the magnitude and importance of the challenges to come.

The State of Environmental Migration 2015 

The State of Environmental Migration series gathers the expertise of researchers, students and professionals to provide an annual assessment of the changing nature and dynamics of environment- and climate-related migration throughout the world.

The State of Environmental Migration 2015: Review of the Year 2014 is the fifth of the annual publications aiming to enhance understanding of natural disasters, sudden natural onset events and slow onset events, and their links to human mobility. The publication is not only focused on 2014 events but also considers the longer-term impacts of a natural event on migration, as they can be assessed with the state of knowledge existing in 2014. It also reviews the developments at policy level relating to migration, climate and the environment. Written in collaboration with students enrolled in the environment and migration course at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po, this report examines the issue of environmental migration, by analysing case studies selected by students.

IOM is particularly concerned with human mobility matters in the context of environmental degradation and a changing climate. This new volume of the State of Environmental Migration is also part of IOM’s commitment to provide information and knowledge on different environmental migration issues and to engage with academic partners in the development of research, data and publications.

The State of Environmental Migration 2014

The State of Environmental Migration 2014: Review of the Year 2013 is the fourth of the annual publications aiming to enhance understanding of natural disasters, sudden natural onset events and slow onset events, and their links to human mobility. The publication is not only focused on 2013 events but also considers the longer-term impacts of a natural event on migration, as they can be assessed with the state of knowledge existing in 2013. It also reviews the developments at policy level relating to migration, climate and the environment. Written in collaboration with students enrolled in the environment and migration course at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po, this report examines the issue of environmental migration, by analysing case studies selected by students.

IOM is particularly concerned with human mobility matters in the context of environmental degradation and a changing climate. This new volume of the State of Environmental Migration is also part of IOM’s commitment to provide information and knowledge on different environmental migration issues and to engage with academic partners in the development of research, data and publications. 

The State of Environmental Migration 2013

This volume is the third of an annual series, which aims to provide the reader with regularly updated assessments on the changing nature and dynamics of environmental migration throughout the world. The idea for it stemmed from the course “Environment and Migration”, taught at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po. The course, which is thought to be the first of its kind in the world, examines the complex relationship between environmental change and migration flows. The best of these papers have been selected and edited, and are presented in this volume. Most of them constitute the first detailed analyses of the migration flows that were induced by some of the most dramatic events of 2012, paving the way for future scholarly works. 

The State of Environmental Migration 2011

The State of Environmental Migration 2011 is the second of an annual series, which aims to provide the reader with regularly-updated assessments on the changing nature and dynamics of environmental migration throughout the world. Written by students of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po, this volume's case studies analyze the migration flows that were induced by some of the most dramatic events of 2011—both sudden disasters and slow-onset events. IDDRI and IOM have initiated, supervised and edited the volume. 

The State of Environmental Migration 2010

This volume is intended to be the first of an annual series, which will aim to provide the reader with regularly updated qualitative assessments on the changing nature and dynamics of environmental migration throughout the world. The idea for it stemmed from the course «Environment and Migration», taught at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po. The course, which is thought to be the first of its kind in the world, examines the complex relationship between environmental change and migration flows. For their final assignment, students were asked to select and analyse a case of environmental migration, be it a sudden and violent natural disaster or a slow-onset environmental degradation. The best of these papers have been selected and edited, and are presented in this volume. Most of them constitute the first detailed analyses of the migration flows that were induced by some of the most dramatic events of 2010, paving the way for future scholarly works.

For more publications on Migration, Environment and Climate Change, please visit the Environmental Migration Portal's Research Database or IOM Online Bookstore.