Professor Adger will discuss how climate change is creating new challenges for fragile populations. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
Exeter academic highlights impact of climate change on migration in Europe
Following a summer which has seen huge migration flows into Europe from neighbouring regions, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Exeter, Neil Adger, will speak at a high-profile public event on the role that climate change plays in the mass movement of people.
‘Climate change and migration to Europe’ is part of a series of Franco-British conferences being held in the run-up to the COP 21 UN climate change summit in Paris in December.
Speaking alongside Mary Robinson, UN Special Envoy for Climate Change and former President of Ireland and Alain Le Roy, Secretary General of the European External Action Service, Professor Adger will discuss how climate change, through its impact on economic, social and political factors which drive migration, is creating new challenges for fragile populations.
Speaking before the event, Professor Adger from Geography said: “Climate change affects and will radically alter many of the economic drivers of migration. But the issues of who is vulnerable to these impacts, the likelihood of displacement, and the policy response require urgent evidence and scientific scrutiny. This is a major issue for the Paris climate negotiations and for the unfolding drama of climate change.”
Chaired by Professor Lord Nicholas Stern of the LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, the event will give the audience the chance to hear from experts on the European migration situation, which has proven a difficult political and moral issue. Following the individual presentations the floor will be open for questions to further develop the conversation.
The event is jointly hosted by the LSE European Institute, LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, the Embassy of France in the United Kingdom, and the European Commission Representation in the UK.
‘Climate change and migration to Europe’ takes place in London at LSE on 18 November from 18.30-20.00. For further information and to register for the event visit: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/climate-change-and-migration-to-europe-registration-19208208268
Date: 17 November 2015
