"Environmental migration" for dummies!
Update on the environmental migration debate from an international solidarity perspective. A publication released by the network “Des ponts pas des mur” (Bridges Not Walls)* of which Emmaus International is a member.
In recent years, the environment has become a major factor driving the movement of people. Year on year, we have all witnessed rising global temperatures and the multiplication of devastating environmental trends: melting glaciers, rising water levels, droughts and floods. In coastal and urban areas, the most disadvantaged populations are the first to fall victim to climate change.
The “Des ponts pas des mur” network, of which Emmaus International is a member, approaches this issue from an international solidarity perspective, in order to facilitate the link between climate justice movements and movements fighting for the rights of migrants. We need this convergence in order to rethink the international response to the challenges of migration, integrating this environmental dimension. We also need to re-examine development aid, which is too often limited to financial, material or logistical support for the countries of the Global South, and often used as a tool for security policies that are not adapted to the realities of current and future migration. Looking at migration from an environmental angle reinforces the need to redefine a genuine alternative international governance of migration.
You can find key figures, analysis and stances adopted by the “Des ponts pas des mur” network in this publication edited in November 2019.
* The “Des Ponts Pas Des Murs” (Bridges Not Walls) network was created in 2008, following a “Citizen Summit on Migration” held in Montreuil, gathering over 300 civil society organisations from 34 countries to mark the French Presidency of the European Council. It is formed of organisations defending human rights, international solidarity organisations, organisations supporting migrants and those in exile, and trade union organisations.
