Climate change is reshaping migration patterns worldwide, with disasters now being the leading cause of internal displacements. In 2022, 32.6 million new internal human displacements were caused by disasters, according to the . The , particularly its target 10.7, calls on countries to facilitate orderly, safe, regular, and responsible migration and mobility of people. The IOM Country Profile contributes to making this a reality.
Precisely, the has engaged in a research partnership with the Ryan Institute at the , a member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in Ireland, to assess the impact of climate change on human migration such country. It is the first Migration, Environment and Climate Change Country Profile in the European continent and it adds the Irish context to IOM’s growing number of national assessments from around the globe.
Much of Ireland’s population resides in coastal zones, and the IOM report has found that some communities are becoming more vulnerable to climate change due to the increase in frequency and severity of extreme storms, flooding, and sea level rise. The document also highlights advantages and opportunities to strengthen climate resilience, including better supporting the communities and improving understanding of the advantages of human mobility.
The partnership that enabled this research started in April 2022 and continued until the final publication in mid-2023. The report was compiled by a team from IOM and the university, including Darya Silchenko, Andrew Chisholm, Dr. Una Murray, Dr. Peter McKeown, Professor Charles Spillane, and Lalini Veerassamy. The authors worked together to finalize the Country Profile, which IOM subsequently published. Such an alliance is built on previous work that Dr. Una Murray at the University of Galway undertook in 2021 with IOM.
Following this initial collaboration, further research activities were discussed between IOM and this higher education institution, including with Professor Charles Spillane, who is the Ryan Institute’s Director. In terms of the results presented through the Ireland Country Profile published by IOM, findings show that major climate impacts on Ireland, including increased temperatures, droughts, floods, extreme storms and sea level rise, will leave some communities increasingly vulnerable, as much of Ireland’s population resides in coastal zones.
The Country Profile covers the current national context, providing evidence from the past about the environment and climate change in Ireland, and underscoring critical issues relating to demography and the economy. The collaborative research examined sudden and slow onset events and their potential effects on human migration patterns. This included projected ones as well as changes in precipitation, flooding, sea-level rise, rising sea surface temperatures, coastal erosion, droughts and heat waves, and landslides.
The authors also investigated the different overlaps between climate and migration policies and frameworks in Ireland, the European Union, and the United Nations to provide prospects and options for evidence-based policymaking. The IOM Country Profile enables the identification of opportunities for Ireland to build upon and strengthen climate resilience, including better supporting the most vulnerable communities while improving understanding of the advantages of human mobilities and people who are ‘on the move.’
The Country Profile concluded with a call for more integrated approaches for averting, minimizing, and addressing climate-related displacement and human migration. More research, data collection, and risk analysis are required, using participatory approaches necessary to strengthen disaster preparedness. The researchers highlighted the crucial relevance of integrating migration challenges and opportunities in the context of climate change into national planning processes and improving efforts toward durable solutions.
“This report synthesizes the mounting evidence of climate change impacts on human migration in Ireland, including projections of escalating vulnerability and risk and recommendations for strengthening national responses,” explained the university’s interdisciplinary Ryan Institute Director, Professor Charles Spillane. “We work with governments and partners on solutions at each stage of the migration cycle,” added Dr. Soumyadeep Banerjee, IOM’s Regional Migration, Environment and Climate Change Specialist.
Andrew Chisholm, who works at the IOM Ireland office, further reiterated that “climate change is now reshaping migration patterns around the world.” One of the report’s authors, Darya Silchenko, a graduate student of the university, found along these lines that: “The evidence we have clearly shows that growing numbers of people are migrating temporarily, circularly or permanently in response to a large numbers environmental shocks and stresses, including those caused by climate change.”
Dr. Peter McKeown, Coordinator of the Master’s program in Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security, stressed the importance of educating and training the next generation of ‘change agents’ such as Darya to make practical and significant contributions to climate action. He indicated that: “As the frequency, duration, and intensity of natural hazards worsen in the context of climate change, the number of climate disasters is expected to rise considerably with knock-on effects on human displacement.”