Migration, environment and development : new directions for research

Koko Warner, United Nations University - Institute for Environment and Human Security
Frank Laczko, International Organization for Migration (IOM)

This paper highlights the linkages between environmentally induced migration and development, and discusses how environmental factors may influence the movement of people. Both climate change and migration and development are topics which are high on the policy agenda of many governments around the world. However, at present these two policy issues are by and large being discussed in separate policy fora. For example, at the UN General Assembly High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (HLD), held in September 2006, and the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), held in July 2007, there was barely any discussion of the linkages between migration, environment and development. Similarly, the report of the Global Commission for Migration published in 2005, which outlines the key migration challenges facing the international community in the coming years, includes virtually no discussion of environmentally induced migration.