Climate migration governance

Abstract

This chapter engages with the current political and academic debate on the governance of “climate migration.” It highlights the difficulties of ascribing a unique cause to migration and questions the relevance of distinguishing “climate migration” from other forms of migration. It then exposes the opportunities and challenges of this concept for international cooperation. Finally, it assesses the potential of different policy options. Despite the difficulties related to the attribution of migration to a unique driver, the concept of “climate migration” appears as a powerful communicative strategy to trigger important international and domestic actions with regard to climate change adaptation and to the protection of the rights of migrants, even though a specific legal regime remains unlikely and perhaps undesirable.