Understanding, anticipating and managing health risks linked to climate migration

In this interview, François Gemenne discusses the specific challenges facing climate refugees, who are often wrongly differentiated from economic refugees. These migration movements are driven by sudden disasters (storms, floods, etc.) and incremental changes (rising sea levels, soil impoverishment,...

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Main Author: François Gemenne
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut Veolia Environnement 2025-01-01
Series:Field Actions Science Reports
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/7658
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author François Gemenne
author_facet François Gemenne
author_sort François Gemenne
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description In this interview, François Gemenne discusses the specific challenges facing climate refugees, who are often wrongly differentiated from economic refugees. These migration movements are driven by sudden disasters (storms, floods, etc.) and incremental changes (rising sea levels, soil impoverishment, etc.) that are heightening the vulnerability of certain regions. Health problems, whether physical or mental, are omnipresent at every stage of these refugees' journeys – all the more when they are women – from the moment the disaster strikes to when they arrive in a new host country.Constructing policies to adapt to and manage these new flows requires taking account of a number of subjective factors. People’s perceptions of the effects of climate change often have a greater influence on their choice to leave than objective reality. Health, associated with push factors that encourage people to leave, such as the appearance of new diseases, and pull factors that draw refugees toward certain locations, such as access to healthcare, is embedded in a complex web of factors behind the decision to leave. Given this reality, countries can decide to consider and organize these flows in terms of an adaptation strategy, instead of a failure to adapt. Migration can improve the health and security of refugees, but also more broadly the health and security of people in host and home countries.
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spelling doaj-art-01984f737a5a412bb9ee71e5dce0ceb12025-01-30T11:24:35ZengInstitut Veolia EnvironnementField Actions Science Reports1867-139X1867-85212025-01-01272629Understanding, anticipating and managing health risks linked to climate migrationFrançois GemenneIn this interview, François Gemenne discusses the specific challenges facing climate refugees, who are often wrongly differentiated from economic refugees. These migration movements are driven by sudden disasters (storms, floods, etc.) and incremental changes (rising sea levels, soil impoverishment, etc.) that are heightening the vulnerability of certain regions. Health problems, whether physical or mental, are omnipresent at every stage of these refugees' journeys – all the more when they are women – from the moment the disaster strikes to when they arrive in a new host country.Constructing policies to adapt to and manage these new flows requires taking account of a number of subjective factors. People’s perceptions of the effects of climate change often have a greater influence on their choice to leave than objective reality. Health, associated with push factors that encourage people to leave, such as the appearance of new diseases, and pull factors that draw refugees toward certain locations, such as access to healthcare, is embedded in a complex web of factors behind the decision to leave. Given this reality, countries can decide to consider and organize these flows in terms of an adaptation strategy, instead of a failure to adapt. Migration can improve the health and security of refugees, but also more broadly the health and security of people in host and home countries.https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/7658
spellingShingle François Gemenne
Understanding, anticipating and managing health risks linked to climate migration
Field Actions Science Reports
title Understanding, anticipating and managing health risks linked to climate migration
title_full Understanding, anticipating and managing health risks linked to climate migration
title_fullStr Understanding, anticipating and managing health risks linked to climate migration
title_full_unstemmed Understanding, anticipating and managing health risks linked to climate migration
title_short Understanding, anticipating and managing health risks linked to climate migration
title_sort understanding anticipating and managing health risks linked to climate migration
url https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/7658
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