Enhancing the Knowledge Base
to describe the whole category of people who migrate because of environmental factors. This broad definition, while evoking an image that has brought public attention to the issue, is not sufficiently precise to describe all the various types of movements which may be linked to environmental factors. The terminology and definitional issues have been taken up by various experts and international agencies. Notably, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Working Group on Migration/Displacement and Climate Change has devised a typology which summarizes the nature of movement, the affected persons and the protection framework under which those who are moving may be granted protection (2008). In the absence of an internationally agreed definition, IOM developed a working definition in 2007 which defines “environmental migrants” as follows: “Environmental migrants are persons or groups of persons who, for compelling reasons of sudden or progressive change in the environment that adversely affects their lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave their habitual homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad.” The purpose of this definition is to try to encompass population movement or displacement, whether it be temporary or permanent, internal or cross-border, and regardless of whether it is voluntary or forced, or due to sudden or gradual environmental change.
(ii) Research on migration, environment and climate change: data and methodological challenges and approaches A persistent lack of data is one of the primary challenges to measuring the migration and environment nexus, while data collection on migration and the environment represents a challenge in itself. A range of methodologies exist which can be utilized and enhanced for research purposes. The topic of environmental migration has often been studied within separate fields in the natural and social sciences or within a sub-set of the larger field of environment studies. How the subject has been framed impacts on both data collection as well as the methodological approaches used. Though migration theory does historically take into account environmental indicators, it is only recently that it has received renewed attention.
19
Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Assessing the Evidence