JC climate change, crisis narratives, development, migration, Sahel, security

Climate refugees: The fabrication of a migration threat

By Hein de Haas In recent years, it has become popular to argue that climate change will lead to massive North-South movements of ‘climate refugees’. Concerns about climate change-induced migration have emerged in the context of debates on global warming. Without any doubt, global warming is one of the most pressing issues facing humanity, and … Continue reading Climate refugees: The fabrication of a migration threat

JC crisis narratives, development, Green Wall, livelihood, Sahel, trees

The Sahelian Great Green Wall: start with local solutions

By Ian Scoones & Camilla Toulmin On 11 January 2021 at the One Planet Summit, President Macron of France announced 14 billion dollars of funding for the Sahelian “Great Green Wall”. Stretching across 8000 kms and 100 million hectares, from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east, the advancing deserts of the Sahara … Continue reading The Sahelian Great Green Wall: start with local solutions

JC conservation, cooperation, development, Sahel, uncertainty

Action before certainty for Africa’s European migrant birds

By Juliet A. Vickery and William M. Adams In 1974, Winstanley and his colleagues1 asked ‘Where have all the whitethroats gone?’. This followed the failure of this small migrant bird to recover from a 77% decline in the UK breeding population in 1968–1969, the suggested cause being drought-related mortality in the Sahel. Whitethroats have slowly … Continue reading Action before certainty for Africa’s European migrant birds