Defining environmental migration in the climate change era: Problem, consequence or solution?

Abstract

Environmental migration for the last 25 years has been the object of many debates and scientific controversies, mobilising different categories of policy actors. This contribution identifies the alternative definitions of the issue dominating this period, by analysing the discourse of those who were present at their origin. In accordance with their belief systems, knowledge and policy attributions, advocates support competing scenarios, whose interaction structures the definitional process. This process can be presented as a continuous effort to construct, a policy relevant issue recognised by the international community and leading to specific policy measures. At first perceived as an autonomous public problem, environmental migration has been redefined as a consequence of climate change, and lastly as a solution to climate induced vulnerability.