On 10 June 2009, UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), CARE International and Columbia University’s Centre for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) released a report on the impact of climate change on migration. The report, entitled “In Search of Shelter: Mapping the effects of Climate Change on Human Migration and Displacement” confirms that climate change is already having a detectable effect on migration today. 200 million people could be on the move in 2050. People in the least developed countries and island states will be affected first and worst. The consequences of climate change for almost all aspects of development and human security could be devastating. The report also underlines that it will be far more difficult for most women and female-headed households to migrate in response to environmental change due to gender roles, as well as cultural prescriptions and prohibitions.
Dr. Koko Warner, Head of Section of the (UNU-EHS) and lead author of the report, said “Migration needs to be recognised as not being negative per se, but a sometimes necessary response to the negative impacts of climate change. The policy decision we make today will determine whether migration can be a choice, a pro-active adaptation measure, or whether migration and displacement is the tragic proof of our collective failure to provide better alternatives”.
