By Ellie Hand
Imagine your house is on fire. Do you put it out, or do you run? And if you run, where do you go? All around the world, people are facing the impacts of climate change. From sudden disasters like hurricanes to gradual changes like desertification, the impacts are profound and widespread. But how many people will actually migrate due to climate change?
To help break down the complex relationship between climate change and migration, we teamed up with ClimateAdam for a special video collaboration. Dr. Adam Levy, AKA ClimateAdam on YouTube, is a renowned climate scientist who educates their audience on climate change; making conversations surrounding the topic fun and easily digestible. Over the years, they’ve covered topics such as potential solutions to climate change, lowering carbon emissions, the connection to Covid-19, climate movements, and much more.
Check out our full collaboration video on YouTube:
In the video, Adam and our co-founder Sophia Burton explain that the link between migration and climate change is not as straightforward as you might think, highlighting why it’s difficult to predict how many people will become climate migrants in the future. They emphasize that factors for migration often overlap, and not everyone can—or even wants to—migrate. Additionally, they discuss how migration can be seen as a potential strategy for mitigating climate change impacts and break down the term “climate justice.” As always, the topic of “climate migration” needs to be approached with a nuanced perspective, acknowledging its complexities rather than reducing it to simple pros and cons.
To learn more about this timely topic, make sure to watch the full Migration Matters video series, “The Big Climate Movement: Migration & displacement in times of climate change” which explores the relationship between climate change and migration from the perspective of academics and climate youth activists.
Thank you to the European Journalism Centre (EJC) for bringing ClimateAdam and Migration Matters together during their 2023 YouTube Accelerator program. Stay tuned for more collaborations and insightful discussions on these critical topics!