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Reports & guides | 5 December 2024

Communicating climate change and migration: A user’s guide to navigating the research

This report aims to guide practitioners in navigating the academic research focused on communicating about climate-linked migration. It is intended to help practitioners understand the relevant research insights available and consider how to deploy them when creating communication campaigns and projects.

Over the coming decades, climate change will reshape patterns of migration and displacement. Communicating effectively about this complex intersection is key to creating an accurate and nuanced public understanding of the topic.

Many organisations avoid engaging with this subject, fearing that they will cause inadvertent harm or misrepresent the people and issues involved. However, the need for clear, empathetic communication on climate-linked migration has never been greater.

Our review of academic literature reveals where current research on climate-migration communications sits, and shares recommendations on how to navigate at this intersection to create communications campaigns and projects. We also suggest areas for future direction.

Our work on the connections between climate change and human mobility has focused on empowering civil society organisations to advocate for the rights and welfare of people on the move due to climate change impacts. We created the Climate and Migration Coalition to provide a platform for organisations to engage with climate-linked migration and displacement. Through partnerships, we provide training, insights and resources that build these organisations’ capacity to engage with climate-linked mobility. We also engage in policy work around climate-linked mobility, focusing on advocacy on the rights and welfare of people at risk of displacement.

Climate Outreach would like to thank Unbound Philanthropy and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) for supporting this publication.

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