Terminology on migration, environment and climate change

There is no legally agreed upon definition of environmental migrants and migration. Yet, there is a tendency to assume that migration can easily be linked causally to environmental “drivers” and that such movements are predominantly of a “forced” nature. As such, the terms climate change and environmental refugee have been frequently used in the media and in some publications. However, closer analysis reveals that neither of these assumptions holds true and there is growing consensus that such terminology should not be used (this issue is discussed further below and in Brief 4).

Related Subject(s): Environment and Climate Change