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Measuring the effect of climate change on migration flows: Limitations of existing data and analytical frameworks

Author

Listed:
  • Marc Helbling
  • Diego Rybski
  • Jacob Schewe
  • Stefan Siedentop
  • Manon Glockmann
  • Bastian Heider
  • Bryan Jones
  • Daniel Meierrieks
  • Albano Rikani
  • Peter Stroms

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review quantitative large-N studies that investigate the effects of climate change on migration flows. Recent meta-analyses have shown that most studies find that climate change influences migration flows. There are however also many studies that find no effects or show that effects are dependent on specific contexts. To better understand this complexity, we argue that we need to discuss in more detail how to measure climate change and migration, how these measurements relate to each other and how we can conceptualise the relationship between these two phenomena. After a presentation of current approaches to measuring climate change, international and internal migration and their strengths and weaknesses we discuss ways to overcome the limitations of existing analytical frameworks.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc Helbling & Diego Rybski & Jacob Schewe & Stefan Siedentop & Manon Glockmann & Bastian Heider & Bryan Jones & Daniel Meierrieks & Albano Rikani & Peter Stroms, 2023. "Measuring the effect of climate change on migration flows: Limitations of existing data and analytical frameworks," PLOS Climate, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(1), pages 1-10, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pclm00:0000078
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000078
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wolin Zheng & Xiaozhi Chen & Weiqi Xu & Zhidong Wu, 2024. "Heterogeneous and short-term effects of a changing climate on farmers’ labor allocation: An empirical analysis of China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(7), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Laura Renner & Lena Schmid, 2025. "The decision to flee: exploring gender-specific determinants of international refugee migration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(2), pages 1-34, June.

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