Economics, Climate Change, and Mass Migration December 2, 2016

Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University
Session: January 18, 10:40-11:00AM

This Paper explores the likely consequences of human-induced global warming on mass migration. Climate change threatens several dire impacts: rising sea levels, and increased droughts and floods, high-intensity tropical cyclones, forest fires, heat waves, and crop failures. Using climate models, geospatial data, and economic and demographic forecasts, we estimate the magnitudes of vulnerable populations for varying trajectories of 21st Century climate change, and the implications for mass migration in future decades. We discuss the need for incorporating these growing, large-scale climate risks into the emerging United Nations policy regimes on migration, refugees, and climate change.