Madeline Veitch | 2026 I.S. Symposium
Name: Madeline Veitch
Title: Climate Migration: An Analysis of the Discourse within the European Union and the Economic Community of West African States
Majors: Global & International Studies; French & Francophone Studies
笔补迟丑飞补测:听Global Impacts
Advisors: Vedanshi Nevatia; Harry Gamble
Climate migration, driven by the damaging physical and economic effects of climate change, necessitates that political structures which address migration need to cope and adapt. The European Union (EU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are both examples of organizations uniquely positioned to address the impacts of climate migration. Europe and West Africa are both affected by the results of the climate crisis, and their shared history of significant interregional migration raises the stakes. Previous literature has presented, but not comprehensively addressed, the relationship between climate migration and these two economic and political unions. With this impending crisis, organizations must act to pass policies that both define the problem and set out value-aligned adaptive and reactive solutions. This study analyzes the discourse in the EU and ECOWAS to determine the actions currently underway, and the frames applied to this problem by each organization. The EU emphasizes a frame of securitization while taking little action directly related to the connection of climate change and migration. On the other hand, ECOWAS tends to stress the importance of climate justice but has also fallen short of implementing adequate, all-encompassing policies. This study is interdisciplinary, combining ideas from political science, history, global studies, mobility studies, french, policy analysis, and economics. Analyzed using a modified version of the migration gravity model, the data supports the claim that there is a relationship between climate vulnerability and migration, emphasizing the need for comprehensive policy in this sphere. The implications of not addressing this issue are significant, and these two organizations must rise to the occasion of adapting to create meaningful policy.
Posted in Symposium 2026 on May 1, 2026.
