Graduation Year

2020

Graduation Month

December

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

School or Department

Political Science

Major

Political Science – Public Administration

Faculty Mentor Department

Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor

Peter McDonough

Keywords

migration, displacement, climate change, sea level rise

Abstract

The issue of migration is already a contentious issue in today’s political environment. Moving into the future, displacements of large numbers of people will continue to increase in both frequency and magnitude. One of the largest driving factors of future migrations will be anthropogenic climate change. This paper mainly focuses on sea level rise and the potential impacts changing oceans will inflict on coastal communities. Given projections of sea level rise and current coastal populations the potential for unprecedented levels of displacement is enormous. As such, there is a need for creative solutions that will aid in preventing, mitigating, and accepting future climate migrants. The approach advocated for in this paper will be three-pronged. First, add environmental displacements into the UNHCR definition of a refugee. Second, prevent and mitigate future displacements, now, by investing into infrastructure and renewable technologies. Last, implement a refugee trading scheme to equitably distribute the load on developed nations for taking in refugees once they are displaced.

Honors College Research Project

1

GLI Capstone Project

no

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© Copyright 2020 Jack M. Rinck