Understanding the climate change-migration nexus through the lens of household surveys: An empirical review to assess data gaps

Abstract

Over the last two decades, the causal relationship between climate change and migration has gained increasing prominence in international research and policy. Despite recent advances in conceptual frameworks and applied techniques, the empirical evidence does not provide clear-cut conclusions, mainly due to the intrinsic complexity of the phenomenon of interest, the irreducible heterogeneity of the transmission mechanisms, some common misconceptions, and, in particular, the paucity of adequate data. In this work, we present the first data-oriented review of the nexus between climate change and migration. Then, we discuss open issues and assess the main data gaps that currently prevent more robust quantifications. Finally, using a prominent survey collection produced by the World Bank as a case study, we highlight opportunities for exploiting and enhancing the potential of existing multi-topic and multi-purpose household survey datasets.