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Migration, Environment and Development: Can Mobility Be a Form of Adaptation?

HDRO Conference Room
25 February 2009

Time: 1.00- 2.00 p.m.

Topic

During the last year or so, numerous meetings, publications and policy papers have focused on the subject of migration and the environment, and the likely implications of climate change for population movements. Much of the policy and research discussion tends to focus on estimating the likely numbers of people who will be displaced by environmental change, and identifying their likely protection needs and possible gaps in the legal framework which applies to displaced persons. In this discourse, migration is seen predominantly as a failure of adaptation, rather than as a form of adaptation, and this is often reflected in the terminology which is used to describe people who move for environmental reasons. Migration is viewed as being essentially a negative phenomenon and a form of forced migration which brings few benefits to those who move or to those left behind. This presentation argues that migration could also be considered as part of an adaptation strategy. The paper explores how migration, and efforts to promote mobility, within and between countries could be part of a broader strategy to help developing countries adapt to climate change and environmental degradation.

About the Speaker

Dr. Frank Lazcko is Head of Research and Publications at the International Organization for Migration in Geneva. Before moving to IOM's Headquarters in Geneva, he worked for 5 years for IOM in the Central and Eastern European/CIS region. He is the Editor of the IOM Migration Research Series which has recently published 4 reports about migration and the environment. IOM implements a wide range of research projects across the globe. Currently, IOM's Research Division is conducting a global review of research on migration and the environment on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 2008, IOM together with the UN University in Bonn, and the Munich Re Foundation, organized an expert meeting in Munich to develop an agenda for future research on migration, climate change and the environment.

Presentation

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