Home~Student theses 1999~Marta Lejkowski
 

ABSTRACT OF THESIS submitted by Marta M. Lejkowski for the degree of Master of Science and entitled: Environmental refugees: policy options for human-displacing environmental problems. Month and Year of submission: August, 1999
 
 

An increase of environmental problems and their severity are causing a growth in the numbers of humans displaced, temporarily or permanently, from their homes.  It has not yet been agreed on how to help this group of people: policy suggestions thus far are too general in their nature and too focused on the actual displacement, and not the root of the problem, the environment.  An effective policy for this issue must focus on answering three questions: who it is that is being discussed, what assistance is needed, and who should be involved in that assistance.  This paper seeks to answer these three questions.  The first question should not be answered with the popular term "environmental refugees" as this term is misleading.  Rather, reference should be made to those affected by "human-displacing environmental problems".  This answer takes the focus away from human displacement, which is often only temporary or localised, and places it onto environmental problems that if not mitigated properly can cause human displacement.  There is no single answer to the second question.  How to assist those facing human-displacing environmental problems all depends on the nature of the problem.  This paper, therefore, suggests an assessment plan designed to identify different needs of the situation and to create a suitable action plan.  As for the third question, regional organisations, either governmental or non-governmental, are described in this paper as the most suitable actors for assistance.  These could specialise in multidisciplinary approaches to preventing, predicting and mitigating environmental problems and would allow  the national governments affected by the problem to pool their resources and to collaborate.
 

Key words: environmental refugees; policy options; human displacement; environmental problems.  
 
 

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