Redefining the Concept of Environmental Migration with Emphasis on the Interaction Between Climate Change and Policy-Making

Articles in Press

Document Type : مقالات علمی -پژوهشی

Authors

Soroush Farshchin ¹

Alireza Mehrabi ¹

kamalodin Naseri ²

Hamidreza Mohammadi ¹

¹ Human Geography Department, Earth Science Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

² Rangland and Watershed Department, Natural Resources and Environment Faculty, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad. Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/pg.2026.96882.1418

Abstract

In recent decades, environmental migration has become one of the fundamental challenges in public policy, human security, and climate studies. While initial research framed the role of climate change in a simplistic, one-dimensional, and linear manner, the expansion of interdisciplinary literature has revealed that environmental migration is a complex and multi-layered phenomenon shaped by the interaction of climatic, institutional, social, economic, and political variables. This study, employing a descriptive-analytical approach based on library research, critically revisits theoretical perspectives and, by examining the shortcomings of one-dimensional approaches, provides a more comprehensive framework for understanding environmental migration through the lenses of human security and conflict.The findings indicate that climatic pressures only lead to migration when combined with structural vulnerabilities, weak governance, spatial inequalities, food security crises, and livelihood collapse. Additionally, public perception, policy narratives, and the quality of governance play a significant role in determining migration pathways, with the gap between macro-level policies and local needs potentially leading to instability and migration. Based on the analysis of the literature, this research introduces a new conceptual and analytical model that views environmental migration as the result of a reproductive relationship between climate change and policy-making. This model emphasizes that environmental migration extends beyond mere climate migration and is influenced by a network of local, regional, and transnational factors.

Keywords

Environmental Migration

Policy-Making

Climate Change

Subjects

• Political Geography

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