Mercator Roundtable: Atlas of environmental migration

At a time where climate change is already causing migration, the anticipated increase of numbers has gained in focus in international debates. Dr. Camilla Bausch moderated a roundtable discussion on related upcoming issues at the Mercator Foundation Roundtable on Climate Migration. The Roundtable accompanied the publication of the German version of the "Atlas of Environmental Migration."

After presenting the content and insights of the Atlas, the participants of the Roundtable discussed a wide range of questions regarding the debate on loss and damage in the context of the UN climate negotiations, adaptation to climate change, and options to prevent damage and humanitarian catastrophes. The role of the legal/formal status of environmental migrants in the international context was debated as well as how existing international legal frameworks (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, individual UN conventions, etc.) must be implemented, adapted or created in order to better protect environmental migrants. The discussion looked at historic causes and cases of environmentally triggered migration to try to identify best practices going forward.

"The Atlas of Environmental Migration" is the first illustrated publication to map the complex impact of climate change on human migration and displacement. The publication clarifies terminology and concepts, draws a typology of migration related to environment and climate change, describes the multiple factors at play, explains the challenges, and highlights the opportunities related to this phenomenon. Through elaborate maps, diagrams, illustrations, case studies from all over the world based on the international research findings, the Atlas guides the reader from the roots of environmental migration through to governance. It has been authored by Dina Ionesco, Daria Mokhnacheva and Francois Gemenne.

The Roundtable was organized by the Mercator Foundation and the Oekom Publishing Group, which brought out "The Atlas of Environmental Migration".