Climate change and migration narratives through culture and policy

2026-07-22

This project examines two key aspects of the international discourse on climate change and migration: culture and policy. This discourse has become increasingly urgent during the 21st century as governments, institutions and the media fiercely debate climate change on the one hand and migration and borders on the other. Dominated by the Global North, the discourse has promoted alarmist assertions of climate change and migration as inextricably connected and destined to provoke conflict and scarcity, assertions often underpinned by a racialised military-security rhetoric. This discourse also routinely overlooks the real economic, political and social needs of those most affected by climate change and the discriminatory mobility regimes that govern them. To date research on the role played by narrative has been limited, nor have the intersections between culture and policy been studied. Recognising that climate change and migration are made known through different forms of narration and storytelling, through which certain interpretations or potential policy responses are favoured while others are discounted, CLIMINAR addresses the following question: What role do cultural and institutional narratives play in either challenging or upholding the dominant alarmist discourse on climate change and migration? The overarching research objectives are to: (1) analyse cultural narratives, in particular fiction and film; (2) examine institutional narratives, specifically policy material produced by NGOs and international governmental organisations, as forms of culture; and (3) comparatively assess all texts by developing and implementing a methodology that ascertains the ethical dimensions of narrative and its ability to incorporate both climate justice and mobility justice. This interdisciplinary approach innovatively combines the environmental humanities and social sciences research on climate change and migration, simultaneously advancing knowledge in both fields.

United Kingdom (UK)

2026-01-01