PERN Cyberseminar on Migration, Climate, Health

12-16 November 2018

The IUSSP Panel on Migration-Climate-Health hosted a cyberseminar through the Population-Environment Research Network (PERN) November 12-16. The cyberseminar’s major goal was to foster dialogue on the three-way nexus between migration, climate change and human health. While there are bodies of research on migration-climate, climate-health and migration-health, there’s very little that explicitly considers connections between all three.  

As environmental pressures intensify in many regions of the globe, the connections between migration and health will likely become all the more important and solid research will be required to inform policy response. There are other connections in this triad, too. Consider how the intersection of climate and public health may also influence future migration decision-making and resulting migrant flows.  

Participants from across the globe participated in the online dialogue with topics ranging from the importance of research on the migration-climate-health intersection, current knowledge gaps, measurement issues, and the need for science to inform policy.  

To begin the conversation, IUSSP panel members provided an overview paper entitled “Migration, Climate and Health: An Underexplored Intersection”.  Panel members include Lori Hunter (University of Colorado Boulder), Sabine Henry (University of Namur), Celia McMichael (University of Melbourne), and Philippe Bocquier (Université Catholique de Louvain).

Several background papers were subsequently posted throughout the week to provide additional foundation for discussion:

• “Migration & Climate: A Research Example Integrating Health”
  Lori Hunter and Daniel Simon, University of Colorado Boulder  

• “Migrant Health Under a Climate-Migration Lens”
  Fernando Riosmena, University of Colorado Boulder  

• “Migration as a Mediating Factor in Climate-Health”
  Bill Pan, Duke University  

• “A consideration of research designs for the study of disaster-related displacement and migration”
  Elizabeth Fussell, Brown University  

• “Lessons from the Field: Refugees, Climate Change, and Health”
  Stefanie Koning, Northwestern University   

• “Tackling the Science-Policy Interface: Paths forward for Climate, Environment, and Migration Researchers” Caroline Zickgraf, University of Liège 

Background papers and postings can be accessed on the PERN website.