Migration Discussions in the Context of Anthropogenic Climate Change
Merve Suzan Ilık BilbenPeople have always migrated in response to environmental change. Movement is a traditional part of human life that allows people to escape from threat and increase resilience (especially when planned). Migration is used almost exclusively by humans to adapt to changing environmental conditions around the world, may be one of the solutions for dealing with climate change. The “new” side of shifts triggered by climate change is the underlying anthropogenic causes, the susceptible approach of many people to climate change, and the relative rapidity of climate change. The aim of this article is to address the multidimensional debate of the impact of anthropogenic climate change on migration movements, patterns, and volumes and to emphasize the importance of analyzing the complex interaction between climate change, environment, and migration. For this purpose, this descriptive study based on a literature review draws a general framework about the issue of migration caused by climate change. In the final section, it is emphasized that consultation, information, and capacity-building activities at the local level should be strengthened as much as global initiatives and participations in order to create large and participatory processes that include the societies that will be affected by climate change.
Antropojenik İklim Değişikliği Bağlamında Göç Tartışmaları
Merve Suzan Ilık Bilbenİnsanlar her çağda çevresel değişimlere ya da iklim değişikliğine tepki olarak yer değiştirmişlerdir. Zira hareket etmek tehditten kaçmayı ve dayanıklılığı artırmayı sağlayan (özellikle planlandığında), değişime uyumun geleneksel ve olağan bir parçasıdır. Nitekim göç neredeyse insanın kendisiyle yaşıt ve dünyadaki insanlar tarafından yaygın olarak değişen çevresel koşullara uyum sağlamak adına kullanılan geleneksel bir mekanizma olarak iklim değişikliği ile başa çıkma noktasında çözüm yollarından biri olabilir. İklim değişikliğiyle tetiklenen yer değiştirmelerin “yeni” olan tarafı ise, onun altında yatan antropojenik temelleri, çok sayıda insanın iklim değişikliğine olan şüpheli yaklaşımı ve iklim değişikliğinin göreceli gerçekleşme hızıdır. Bu makalenin amacı, antropojenik iklim değişikliğinin göç hareketleri, türleri ve düzenleri üzerindeki etkisine ilişkin tartışmaları çok boyutlu bir şekilde ele almak ve bu sayede iklim değişikliği, çevre ve göç arasındaki karmaşık etkileşimi analiz etmenin önemini ortaya koymaktır. Bu amaçla literatür taramasına dayalı olarak gerçekleştirilen bu betimsel çalışma, iklim değişikliği kaynaklı göç konusunda genel bir çerçeve çizmektedir. İklim değişikliğinden etkilenecek toplumları da kapsayan geniş ve katılımcı süreçler oluşabilmesi adına küresel inisiyatif ve iştirakler kadar yerel düzeyde danışma, bilgilendirme ve kapasite geliştirme çalışmalarının güçlendirilmesi gerektiği vurgulanmaktadır.
The international scientific community believes that anthropogenic climate change will be experienced throughout the world during the 21st century. It is obvious that climate change will distort natural balances, such as sea level rise, deforestation, drought, and extreme weather events. All these effects are predicted to cause serious distress to people’s settlement patterns, living conditions, food production, and health conditions. Consequently, it is obvious that these environmental events and the problems that result will cause a displacement that is both national and international in scale.
People have always migrated in response to environmental change. Movement is a traditional part of human life that allows people to escape from threat and increase resilience (especially when planned). The “new” side of shifts triggered by climate change is the underlying anthropogenic basis, the susceptible approach of many people to climate change, and the relative rapidity of climate change. These features of climate change are accompanied by the risk of clashing with people’s conventional strategies of coping. Today’s change is rapid because it is anthropogenic in origin; it is not natural and slow climatic change. It is outside of our perception of the rate of change of nature, so it is difficult to predict its effects. The fact that the number of displaced people is increasing as a result of climate change day by day makes it more difficult (as well as urgent) to create a definition with international validity.
Climate change migrants today are one of the most controversial issues in international law. Compulsory climate migrants are filtering through the cracks in international refugee and immigration policies, and there are intensive discussions whether the refugee definition should be expanded for climate refugees or whether other definitions should be found. The ability of countries and people to adapt to changing climate will also determine how environmental migration will take place in the future. Moreover, it would be misleading to think that the links between climate change, environmental degradation, and migration have a simple linear causality, because there is a very complex and intertwined relationship between migration and environment. In a globalizing world, the consequences and pathways of anthropogenic climate change make it important to analyze this complex and intertwined relationship in all its dimensions.
The aim of this article is to address the multidimensional debate on the impact of anthropogenic climate change on migration movements, patterns, and volumes and to emphasize the importance of analyzing the complex interaction between climate change, environment, and migration. For this purpose, this descriptive study based on a literature review draws a general framework on the issue of migration due to climate change. The study first deals with migration as a mechanism of adaptation to the changing climate conditions and the impact of climate change on migratory mobility. Variables related to the migration process originating from climate change are addressed, and this approach is considered as a possible solution at the point of coping with climate change.
The causal relationship between climate change and migration is evaluated in terms of voluntary-compulsory, long-term–short-term, temporary-permanent, and regional-international migration types. It focuses on the difficulties of researching and conceptualizing climate change–induced migration. Further, this article focuses on the underlying anthropogenic basis of recent environmental displacements, the reasons why climate change induces people to migrate, and the problems of putting forward a definition. The scope of the definitions used in the literature is addressed as well as the empirical and conceptual difficulties in pointing out the establishment of a causal link.
In the last section, the effects of slow-onset and sudden climate events on migration movements, patterns, and densities are explained and climate change is discussed as a threat multiplier to socioeconomic and political distress. In this section, which refers to the obstacles facing quantitative predictions and the acquisition of statistics, it is emphasized that the groups most affected by climate change migration are disadvantaged groups located in vulnerable, mostly underdeveloped countries. Finally, the possibility of emerging new migration patterns is emphasized. Furthermore, it is emphasized that the consultation, information, and capacity building activities at the local level should be strengthened as much as global initiatives and participation in order to create large and participatory processes that include the societies that will be affected by climate change.
