This publication contains the report and supplementary materials of a workshop on “Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration”, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland on 29–30 March 2011. The workshop identified some of the main areas in which governments and institutions may need to reinforce their capacities to manage the complex interactions between climate change and environmental degradation and human mobility.

The World Migration Report 2011 presents available evidence on public perceptions and attitudes regarding migration globally. It analyses the way in which they are shaped and how they can influence and be influenced by policy as well as the media. Furthermore, the media’s role in communicating opinions, reporting trends and framing migration discourse is analyzed. Examples of good practice in communicating a positive and balanced image of migrants among government, civil society and the media are also included.

Migration is a constant and dynamic phenomenon increasingly requiring diversified policy intervention in order to maximize its potential benefits and minimize related costs for both countries of origin and destination as well as migrants themselves.

This book focuses on impact of environmental/climate change on human migration. Finds that large-scale human movement from climate change and environmental degradation is not only inevitable but is already happening.

Environmental factors have long had an impact on global migration flows. Although there is limited reliable data on the subject, the scale of such flows, both internal and cross-border, is expected to rise significantly over the next decades as a result of climate change.