Balsari et al. (2020) – Climate Change, Migration, and Civil Strife
This article explores the intersection of the two most acute phenomena for modern global politics – climate change and migration. The argument is constructed around the assumption that the deteriorating conditions of climate will soon become one of the main reasons why many people decide to migrate to other places. The problem is that climate change will disproportionately influence the most vulnerable parts of populations already experiencing many other life difficulties. Describing how this process will proceed, Balsarie et al. (2020) explain that heat will contribute to the expansion of deserts and land degradation. As a result, it will lead to disruption of agricultural practices and subsequent food insecurity and water scarcity, as it is already happening in Yemen.
The distinguishing feature of this article is that the authors suggest some policy implications for developed countries. Describing failures of migration in 20th-century Europe, Balsarie et al. (2020) argue that the European Union should be prepared for future migration flows. Without such preparation, Europe may repeat the same mistakes, such as the rise of far-right movements and xenophobia. Therefore, it is the obligation of European states to plan and financially support policies that will assist migration, which will certainly occur.
Helbing (2020) – Attitudes towards Climate Change Migrants
This study is one of the first attempts to conduct a sociological study on the attitudes of Europeans toward the increase of climate change migrants. Although many studies measure people’s attitudes toward migration as a whole, the role of climate change was not properly addressed. Helbing (2020) has chosen Germany as a sample country because this state faced a great migration flow in 2015. The study results show that Germans are relatively open to the flow of climate change migrants. However, it can be explained by the population’s unfamiliarity with what this new phenomenon actually means.
After receiving positive answers from respondents, the author tried to reformulate the question by adding some predictions about how many migrants may migrate. This additional information changed the perception of some respondents to a more negative one. The reason is that some residents of European countries have little knowledge about the scope of the problem, so they may think that climate change migrants are similar to political migrants. In the final part of the paper, Helbing (2020) gives some recommendations concerning the discrepancy in the population’s understanding of climate change migrants. The article calls for policymakers to pay more attention to this problem by increasing awareness among the population and preparing political systems for further migration challenges.
Conca (2018) – Is There a Role for the UN Security Council on Climate Change?
Conca’s article is slightly different from the two previous ones because it discusses climate change migrants from the perspective of international law and United Nations (UN) activity. Currently, some UN departments are proposing policies to enhance sustainability. The World Health Organization initiated programs on climate change in small developing islands, and the International Labour Organization encouraged the creation of ‘green jobs’ in 30 countries. In addition, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations is working on reducing the waste footprint of all UN programs and operations. Such an approach tries to solve the problem of climate change on the ground, reducing the number of potential climate change migrants.
The main focus of the article is the effectiveness of the UN Security Council in combating climate change. Although the UN Security Council has great powers according to the UN charter, the veto power of five permanent members, which present strikingly different worldviews on current politics, makes the decision-making slow. Conca (2018) suggests changes in how the UN security council should work. One of the possible changes is the creation of a special representative on climate who will supply member states with information. However, for more effective work on climate change prevention, the Security Council should be transformed by amending veto power and adding other permanent members.
References
Balsari, S., Dresser, C., & Leaning, J. (2020). Climate change, migration, and civil strife. Current Environmental Health Reports, 7(4), 404-414.
Conca, K. (2019). Is there a role for the UN Security Council on climate change?. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 61(1), 4-15.
Helbling, M. (2020). Attitudes towards climate change migrants. Climatic Change, 160(1), 89-102.