LAURIER ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRATION

Environmental events, conditions, and extremes are known to influence migration patterns at local, national, and global scales. Forecasts estimate anywhere from 25 million to 1 billion people may be displaced or obliged to migrate for reasons related to climate change in the coming century, with 200 million by mid-century being an oft-cited estimate. Recent research shows that droughts in rural Mexico and declining urban ecological conditions in low-income countries already influence current migration flows to the US and Canada respectively, although this influence is easily overlooked in the face of wider migration policy and management challenges. The European Union and governments in other parts of the world have already begun creating research initiatives and broad policy proposals to address climate- and environmentally-related displacement and migration. Examples include the UK Foresight and EU EACH-FOR projects, the European Cooperation in Science & Technology Action on..