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UNU-EHS Holds Sessions on Environmental Migration at the 5th World Water Forum

At the 5th World Water Forum in March 2009, four successful sessions and panel discussions on water-related environmental migration and displacement were organised by the UNU-EHS, in partnership with UNW-DPC and GAP in Istanbul, Turkey. The outcomes showed that migration is an actual adaptation strategy and that it is necessary to restructure the way it is being managed for the results to be beneficial to all parties concerned.

Over 60 experts participated in the in-depth panel discussions and sessions that constituted the topic of “Water related Migration, Changing Land Use and Human Settlements”. It was an occasion for experts to come together and explain the specific context in which rural‐to‐rural, rural‐to‐urban and cross‐border migration take place. An examination of the impacts and consequences of water resources management, changing land use patterns, and the growth and decline of human settlements was the approach that was taken to explore these topics.

The sessions were concluded in the Wrap Up session of the “Global Change and Risk Management” theme, where the scientists agreed that, contrary to popular belief, migration is actually a form of adaptation and not a failure to adapt and, if managed properly, it can be beneficial in both source and target countries (e.g. through remittances, brain circulation, skills and labour mobility). During this session Prof. Janos Bogardi, Director of UNU-EHS, and Tim Kastern, UNEP, emphasized the importance of identifying the original causes of migration, as well as re-prioritizing rural development initiatives.

However, Prof. Bogardi explained, “while scientists and policymakers continue to remain divided on whether or not the concept of environmental migration is viable for the scientific or political agenda, global environmental changes have already manifested their impact as observed in many small island states, Alaska and many dry land areas in Asia and Africa.” It seems it is a matter of time before governments will have to start dealing with the humanitarian consequences of climate change which they chose to ignore in the past.