The Role of Environmental Changes and Conflicts on Migration in the MENA Region

Description

Current migration in the MENA region has assumed levels unprecedented in recent history.
A triplet of drivers involving environmental change, migration and conflicts, are root
causes for individuals and communities to move and have been contextualized in the
Environmental Change- Migration-Conflict Nexus (ECMC-N). while numerous links between
these drivers are known, a comprehensive quantitative description of these links remains forthcoming.
Such descriptions will be instrumental in specifying policy measures to
reduce adverse consequences of the ECMC-N through joint initiatives by the MENA countries’
governments.

Manfred A. Lange, former Director of the Arctic Center in Rovaniemi, Finland (1992-1995) and
Professor of Geophysics at the University of Münster in Germany (1995-2007), was the founding
Director of the Energy, Environment and water Research Center at the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia,
Cyprus (www.cyi.ac.cy; 2007-2015). His research includes the assessment
of climate change impacts with a focus on water- and energy security, renewable energy sources
and energy- and water use efficiency in the built environment.