The Climate, Migration and Health Nexus: Opportunities for Interregional Cooperation

This open access book offers innovative contributions to the climate-migration-health nexus and the role of regional governance in this nexus, emphasizing the importance of interregional cooperation in addressing these challenges. It considers climate change as an intensifier of leading to rising of migration and displacement, in interaction with economic, political, and social factors. These in turn have profound implications for society, particularly in relation to human health and health systems. The spread of infectious diseases, the rise in chronic health conditions, mental health issues, and fragmented access to healthcare are already emerging as critical concerns. This volume fills the gap in the understanding of the intricate climate-migration-health nexus and provides new empirical evidence and data to inform effective interventions and policies. Leading experts explore the interconnections between different dimensions of the nexus across regions, present mitigation and adaptation strategies, delve into the influence of regional and global governance factors, and showcase novel transdisciplinary methodologies. By unlocking this knowledge, this volume aims to shape sustainable solutions and forge a resilient future.

Ilse Ruyssen is Associate Research Professor in Migration Economics at the Department of Economics of Ghent University and an affiliated Research Fellow at the UNU-CRIS. Her research focuses on the factors shaping migration decisions and immobility (with particular attention to the role of climate change, health and retain factors), as well as the implications of (non-)migration for the livelihoods of individuals and communities. She is Director of the CliMigHealth International Thematic Network, uniting scholars around the world from multiple disciplines working on the nexus between climate change, migration and health(care). Furthermore, she teaches various courses in migration and international economics at Ghent University, and is involved in multiple research projects concerning migration economics and interdisciplinary research on migration.

Charlotte Scheerens is a Health Sociologist and Postdoctoral Researcher at Ghent University and is the global coordinator of CliMigHealth. Her research interests are temperature and pollution impacts on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), integrated and equitable primary health care approaches, planetary health and climate change (and migration)-related health risks. She is also affiliated with KULeuven's Instituut voor Huisartsgeneeskunde, where she works with the Intego database on temperature and pollution related morbidity in Flanders. At United Nations University-CRIS in Bruges, she is part of the Nature, Climate and Health cluster as well as the UNU-migration network, working on projects concerning floods and psychosocial wellbeing as well as engagements for international climate summits and events. She is involved in policy work for the Belgian governments, through committees on climate and health and just transition, and the New Green Deal Zorg. She was also former coordinator and spokesperson of Climate Express, a Belgian non-profit demanding higher climate ambition through mass mobilization.

Sonja Fransen is an Assistant Professor in Disaster and Displacement Studies at The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre (HSC), International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), at Erasmus University (EUR). Sonja’s research interests include (forced) migration, climate change, return migration, and (post-conflict) development. She has extensive, both quantitative and qualitative, fieldwork experience in various countries, and is particularly specialized in migration and development in East Africa and Europe. Sonja regularly works as a consultant for NGOs and international organizations, including WFP, UNHCR and the World Bank. She has published several academic articles in leading journals, book chapters, and policy briefs. Previously, Sonja was a Senior Research Fellow at United Nations University (UNU) - MERIT, Maastricht University, where she taught and managed several research projects on (forced) migration and policy impacts on (forced) migrant populations.

Robert Oakes is an Associate Academic Officer in the Environment and Migration: Interactions and Choices (EMIC) Division at the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). His research centres on the reasons for, and outcomes of, human mobility in the context of climate change. In this way he seeks to answer the question of in what circumstances human mobility should be considered as a form of adaptation to climate change, and when it is better understood as a form of loss and damage.As a result, he researches wider impacts of climate change and mobility on society, including wellbeing, health and on vulnerable groups such as children. He is co-lead on the Migration Research Stream of the CliMigHealth Steering Committee.