The ‘Climate Migration’ Narrative Is Inaccurate, Harmful, and Pervasive. We Need an Alternative

“If climate activists want to spur support for green policies, their pitch should focus on unjust heightening of vulnerability, at home and elsewhere. Personal, emotionally informed stories of the effects of climate change—such as of children going hungry in climate-worsened drought–can evoke empathy and spur support for greener policies, especially if they arouse anger at injustice. Migration-related narratives, by contrast, can create empathy among some audiences, but can also create fear, especially when migrants are largely presented as members of overestimated crowds.”