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Climate shocks are shaping human geographies, threatening coastlines, flooding settlements and heating up cities. Therefore, climate impacts and the associated environmental changes are increasingly reflected in social systems. Based on eight years of research, this book sheds light on the impact of climate extremes on migration and displacement. It provides insights into the different contexts in which people experience the effects of climate change and how they shape migration decisions. In the absence of a supranational governance framework, individuals and institutions are already searching for sustainable solutions across the migration cycle to uplift communities. This book builds on qualitative interviews and focus group discussions in numerous countries with people who had to leave their ancestral homelands due to climate impacts, with groups trying to support them, and also with those who want to prevent migration. These exchanges produced not only a body of scientific work, but also a complex overall picture and personal impressions of the state of our planet and the people who live on it.
Kira Vinke's pioneering work on climate migration sheds light on the darkness in which millions of people are fighting for their own survival.
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director General, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Kira Vinke s work is an eye-opening testimony to the impacts of the climate crisis on migration and displacement. Her rigorously researched book combines narrations of displacement experiences around the world with hard facts. Despite all the challenges, it offers hope and highlights the urgency to act now.
Andrew Harper, Special Advisor on Climate Action to the High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR
List of contents
Chapter 1. Departure into the Unknown - Climate Migration in the 21st Century.- Chapter 2. The Right to Stay and the Freedom to Go Legal Aspects of Climate Migration.- Chapter 3. Islands Without a Future? The Disappearing Paradise of the Small Island States .- Chapter 4. Conflicts Between Nomadic Herders and Sedentary Farmers in the Sahel.- Chapter 5. Superstorms - Long-term Impacts in the Philippines and Bangladesh.- Chapter 6. Fire in the Rainforest - Biodiversity Crisis in the Amazon Basin.- Chapter 7. Climate Crisis in Germany and Switzerland - From the Halligs to the Alps.- Chapter 8. A Climate Passport for Climate Migrants? The Political Toolbox for the Systemic Crisis.- Chapter 9. Pathways Out of the Crisis - Fragments of Hope.
About the author
Dr. Kira Virginia Vinke is head of the Center for Climate and Foreign Policy at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). She is a member of the Advisory Board to the German Federal Government on Civilian Crisis Prevention and Peacebuilding which she co-chaired for six years. Prior to joining DGAP, Vinke worked at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) where she led the East Africa Peru India Climate Capacities project (EPICC).
Summary
Climate shocks are shaping human geographies, threatening coastlines, flooding settlements and heating up cities. Therefore, climate impacts and the associated environmental changes are increasingly reflected in social systems. Based on eight years of research, this book sheds light on the impact of climate extremes on migration and displacement. It provides insights into the different contexts in which people experience the effects of climate change and how they shape migration decisions. In the absence of a supranational governance framework, individuals and institutions are already searching for sustainable solutions across the migration cycle to uplift communities. This book builds on qualitative interviews and focus group discussions in numerous countries with people who had to leave their ancestral homelands due to climate impacts, with groups trying to support them, and also with those who want to prevent migration. These exchanges produced not only a body of scientific work, but also a complex overall picture and personal impressions of the state of our planet and the people who live on it.
“Kira Vinke's pioneering work on climate migration sheds light on the darkness in which millions of people are fighting for their own survival.”
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director General, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
“Kira Vinke’s work is an eye-opening testimony to the impacts of the climate crisis on migration and displacement. Her rigorously researched book combines narrations of displacement experiences around the world with hard facts. Despite all the challenges, it offers hope and highlights the urgency to act now.”
Andrew Harper, Special Advisor on Climate Action to the High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR
