COP26, Climate Change, and Migration with Beth Ferris

Season 3, Episode 5: For our next installment on global commons issues, ISD Director of Programs and Research Kelly McFarland talks to Beth Ferris, research professor in the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown and non-resident senior fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, about the impact of environmental change on migration. They discuss the ways in which climate change is driving internal displacement and international migration, the need for new vocabulary to describe this phenomenon and the people who experience it, and recent events in Afghanistan and other migration hot spots. Beth also provides a forecast on what she's hoping for from the forthcoming COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. 

We also hear from Jeremy Mathis, professor the Science, Technology, and International Affairs program and the Center for Security Studies in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown, and Bibi La Luz Gonzalez of Eat Better Wa'ik—an anti-hunger NGO in Guatemala.

Listen to previous episodes with Bibi and Jeremy on our website, or by searching for Diplomatic Immunity in your podcast app.  

New Challenges to Human Security: Environmental Change and Human Mobility, ISD New Global Commons Working Group (April 2017)

The New Arctic: Navigating the Realities, Possibilities, and Problems, ISD New Global Commons Working Group Report (July 2018)

Peace Through Food: Ending the Hunger-Instability Nexus, ISD New Global Commons Working Group Report (August 2021)

Groundswell: Preparing for Internal Climate Migration, The World Bank (March 2018) 

Report on the Impact of Climate Change on Migration, The White House (October 2021)

Episode recorded: Interview with Beth Ferris: Friday, October 22, 2021; Interview with Bibi La Luz Gonzalez: Friday, September 24th, 2021; Interview with Jeremy Mathis: Monday, September 20th, 2021. 

Episode image: Peace Through Food (Institute for the Study of Diplomacy) 

Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs

Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world. 

Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland. Production Assistance by Emily Linn. 

For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.