Abstract
This paper presents the findings of a systematic review of scholarly publications that report empirical findings from studies of environmentally-related international migration. There exists a small, but growing accumulation of empirical studies that consider environmentally-linked migration that spans international borders. These studies provide useful evidence for scholars and policymakers in understanding how environmental factors interact with political, economic and social factors to influence migration behavior and outcomes that are specific to international movements of people, in highlighting promising future research directions, and in raising important considerations for international policymaking. Our review identifies countries of migrant origin and destination that have so far been the subject of empirical research, the environmental factors believed to have influenced these migrations, the interactions of environmental and non-environmental factors as well as the role of context in influencing migration behavior, and the types of methods used by researchers. In reporting our findings, we identify the strengths and challenges associated with the main empirical approaches, highlight significant gaps and future opportunities for empirical work, and contribute to advancing understanding of environmental influences on international migration more generally. Specifically, we propose an exploratory framework to take into account the role of context in shaping environmental migration across borders, including the dynamic and complex interactions between environmental and non-environmental factors at a range of scales.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11111-014-0210-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
It has been nearly 30 years since the term ‘‘environmental refugees’’ came into regular use (El-Hinnawi 1985) and 20 years since ecologist Norman Myers issued his first of several warnings in scholarly journals that the twenty-first century would see hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes for causes directly or indirectly attributable to the environment (Myers 1993, 1997, 2002)
This paper presents the findings of a systematic review of scholarly publications that report empirical findings from studies of environmentally-related international migration
Our review identifies countries of migrant origin and destination that have so far been the subject of empirical research, the environmental factors believed to have influenced these migrations, the interactions of environmental and non-environmental factors as well as the role of context in influencing migration behavior, and the types of methods used by researchers
Summary
It has been nearly 30 years since the term ‘‘environmental refugees’’ came into regular use (El-Hinnawi 1985) and 20 years since ecologist Norman Myers issued his first of several warnings in scholarly journals that the twenty-first century would see hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes for causes directly or indirectly attributable to the environment (Myers 1993, 1997, 2002). Reviewers of the field (e.g., Piguet 2010; Bates 2002; Gemenne 2011; McLeman 2011, 2014; Warner 2010, among others) have observed that discussions about environmental migration are often normative in nature and have called for greater empirical research. This need is increasing, for the subject has moved well beyond the academic sphere. As pressure grows to generate new policies and programs to respond to migration arising from existing environmental risks such as droughts, floods, land degradation, and storms, as well as new risks related to climate change and mean sea-level rise, the empirical evidence that already exists becomes of increasing value to decision makers
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