Climate change, water stress, conflict and migration • Climate change, conflict and migration

130 Pages·2012·5.97 MB·English

Climate change,
water stress,
conflict and migration
Climate change, water stress, conflict
and migration

Climate change, water stress, conflict
and migration

Papers presented at a conference
held on 21 September 2011 in The Hague, the Netherlands
Text editing
Michael R. van der Valk and Penelope Keenan

Design
Michael R. van der Valk | CrossVision

 2012 by the authors and editors

This publication is a contribution of the Netherlands to the
International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO

International
Hydrological
Programme
Contents

Climate change, conflict and migration: the water context 1
Conference summary
Karin Thomas, Marguerite de Chaisemartin and
Michael van der Valk

Climate change, water stress, conflict and migration
Taking stock of current insights through a vulnerability 13
lens
Leon Hermans

Climate change, water stress, conflict and migration 35
Background paper

Climate change-induced migrations
A research and capacity-building agenda from a human
security perspective 77
Rolain Borel

Water stress, conflict and migration in South Asia 87
Major General ANM Muniruzzaman (Retd)

Environment, climate change and human displacement
From literature, through empirical evidence to policy- 101
making
Tamer Afifi

Letter to the Netherlands Chief Negotiator UN Climate
Talks, Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment 113
Marius Enthoven
vii

Climate change, conflict and migration:
the water context

Conference summary

Karin Thomas, Marguerite de Chaisemartin and Michael van der Valk

The symposium – held on 21 September 2011 at the Interna-
tional Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands –
was opened by the Chair, Mr Marius Enthoven, Chairman of the
Alliance for UPEACE. He requested a moment of silence in
remembrance of the late Mr Mahmoud El Zain Hamid, a professor
of the University of Peace (UPEACE), and honoured his efforts and
commitment to sharing knowledge.

Mr Enthoven announced the opening of a UPEACE office in The
Hague in 2012.

Session 1 – Introduction to the symposium

Professor Rolain Borel, PhD, of the Department of Environment,
Peace and Security at UPEACE, San José, Costa Rica, provided an
update on UPEACE in Costa Rica, highlighting the multicultural
student body and its positive impact on the learning environment.
Through a series of cartoons on climate change, the message was
clear: today not everybody sees the urgency, and the ones who
might see it talk instead of taking any real action.

Mr Borel went on to stress three key associations that require fur-
ther consideration: climate change and human rights, disaster pre-
vention and research, and disasters and conflict data. Closer links

Karin Thomas is director of Thomas Consulting – Responsible Investments, Tilburg, the
Netherlands. Marguerite de Chaisemartin is legal consultant at UNESCO’s PCCP programme
(From Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential). Michael van der Valk is Scientific Secretary
of the Netherlands National Committee IHP-HWRP, the Dutch governmental advisory body
for the intergovernmental water programmes of UNESCO and WMO.
1