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Climate change is expected to have significant implications for human mobility. The potentially millions of people who may be displaced through climate change impacts such as sea-level rise, accelerated desertification and increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events are frequently referred to as ´climate refugees´. This study applies the discourse coalitions framework developed by Maarten Hajer to examine policy discourse on climate-induced migration. In particular, it explores how the concept of ´climate refugees´ is understood, defined and contested by key actors and how this relates to the definition, within different discursive arenas, of climate-induced migration as a policy problem. Concepts from the discourse coalitions framework namely story-lines , institutional practices and discourse coalitions are taken as key units of analysis. An exploration of the discursive field of climate-induced migration identifies prominent discursive constructions of climate refugees. It also explores how these are created and reproduced through a range of institutional practices and how they are contested by specific coalitions of actors. The book concludes with an exploration of potential policy implications of discursive constructions of climate refugees.

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Emily Kilham, MSc Environmental Governance, BA/BSc(Honours): undergraduate studies at the Australian National University, graduate studies at the Albert-Ludwigs-University. Research associate at the Chair of Forest and Environmental Policy, Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg.

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