Who’s responsible? : A study of strategies for handling climate migration

Abstract: The issue of climate migration has long been struggling to make its way onto the international agenda. This study therefore set out to shed a light on eleven strategies for handling climate migration. The study builds on the work by Ransan-Cooper et al. (2015) where they allocate actors to four different frames depending on how the actor in question view the environmental migrant, either as; a victim; a security threat; an adaptive agent or; a political subject. This makes out an important comparative basis for the analysis done in this study. It also provides a background on problem definition and framing and the role it plays in policy making. This study then takes the step to also present solutions to the problem defined by presenting concrete strategies which can all be allocated to one of the four frames. The core ideas of the strategies and the solutions they provide are presented using a content analysis. In addition, the question of responsibility for climate migrants is discussed using three normative theories: contribution to the problem, ability to pay and beneficiary pays. The study concludes that there is a consensus among most actors that there is a need for global cooperation and shared responsibility for climate migration and climate migrants. It also concludes that the way a problem is defined or framed plays a highly important role.