In 2015, the UN Refugee Agency reported that 65.3 million people around the world were counted as “forcibly displaced,” with conflict, economic stresses, famine, and disasters among the top reasons people leave their homes. The connection between displacement, migration, and climate change is less understood, however, write Kelly M. McFarland and Vanessa Lide for The Washington Post.

To examine these issues in depth, the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University convened a working group on human migration and climate change. The resulting April 2017 report, “New Challenges to Human Security: Environmental Change and Human Mobility,” discusses the human security challenges of environmental stresses, the connection between extreme weather events and displacement, the identification and protection of these “environmental migrants,” and more.