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François Gemenne: The links between climate change and migration

Displaced people flow from Syria into Iraq. © UNHCR/G.Gubaeva

Climate change-induced migration is often framed as a problem for future generations. In fact it is already happening around the globe. How can we better plan and act to mitigate the trauma induced in displaced populations and the governments dealing with the displacements?

In this conversation on ABC Radio National,  Dr François Gemenne, a world authority on climate change and disaster-related migration, called on governments around the world to recognise the link between climate change and migration. 

Dr Gemene served as a scientific consultant for the EXIT installation at the UNSW Galleries. During the exhibition, Dr Gemene recorded a talk for the Grand Challenge on Refugees and Migrants, focusing on whether our obsession with borders reveals a crisis of humanity, and an inability to think of humankind as a whole.

About François Gemenne

A specialist of environmental geopolitics and migration dynamics, Dr François Gemenne is a senior research associate at the University of Liège, where he is the Director of the Hugo Observatory. He also serves as co-director of the Observatory on Defence and Climate of the French Ministry of Defence. He is a leading specialist in environmental geopolitics and migration governance. His research deals with populations displaced by environmental changes and policies of adaptation to climate change. During his career, Dr Gemenne has conducted field studies in Tuvalu, China, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Mauritius, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and in Japan after the Fukushima disaster.

Photo credit: UNHCR/G.Gubaeva