On this page you will find links to VU Library and open access resources on the effects climate change is having on changing populations i.e. civil strife, economic deprivation, displacement through war, famine and persecution caused by scarcity of resources.

Staff and students from Victoria University are able to access various online resources from VU Library. You may be initially diverted to the VU Portal log-in page. Enter your Victoria University credentials.

Below is a selection of search strings that allow you to re-run a VU Library search. 

• "population change" AND "climate change"
• "climate change" AND "resource scarcity"
• ("climate change" OR "global warming") AND "civil conflict"

Add some keywords to your search using boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to refine searching across resources on the topic of climate change and changing populations. 

Population and Development Review

Population and Development Review is essential reading to keep abreast of population studies, research on the interrelationships between population and socioeconomic change, and related thinking on public policy. Its interests span both developed and developing countries, theoretical advances as well as empirical analyses and case studies, a broad range of disciplinary approaches, and concern with historical as well as present-day problems.

Climatic Change

Dedicated to the problem of climatic variability and change, its descriptions, causes, implications and interactions among these.

Nature Climate Change

Nature Climate Change is a monthly journal dedicated to publishing the most significant and cutting-edge research on the nature, underlying causes or impacts of global climate change and its implications for the economy, policy and the world at large. All editorial decisions are made by a team of full-time professional editors.

Population, space and place 

Population, Space and Place Informs population researchers of theoretical and empirical research on topics related to population, space and place, assess and apply philosophical and methodological developments in the social and behavioural sciences 

Population Studies 

The Journal covers topics on population change, family demography and evolutionary and genetic influences on demographic behaviour.

European Journal of Population

European Journal of Population addresses a broad public of researchers, policy makers and others concerned with population processes and their consequences. Its aim is to improve understanding of population phenomena by giving priority to work that contributes to the development of theory and method, and that spans the boundaries between demography and such disciplines as sociology, anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, epidemiology and other sciences contributing to public health.

Bento de Souza Ferreira Filho, J and Horridge, Mark (2016) Climate change impacts on agriculture and internal migrations in Brazil. Working Paper. Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS), Victoria University.

Abel, G. J., Brottrager, M., Cuaresma, J. C., & Muttarak, M. (2019). Climate, conflict and forced migration. Global Environmental Change, 54, 239-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.12.003

Ahmed, B., (2018). Who takes responsibility for the climate refugees? International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 10(1), https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-10-2016-0149

Hermans, K., & McLeman, R. (2021). Climate change, drought, land degradation and migration: Exploring the linkages. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 50, 239-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2021.04.013

Klepp, S., & Frohlich, Christiane. (2020). Migration and conflict in a global warming era: A political understanding of climate change. Social Sciences, 9(5), 78-87. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9050078

Pendrey, C. G., Quilty, S, Gruen, R. L., Weeramanthri, T., & Lucas, R. M. (2021). Is climate change exacerbates health care workforce shortages for underserved populations, The Lancet, 5(4), E183-E184. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00028-0

Abrahams, D. (2020). Conflict in abundance and peacebuilding in scarcity: Challenges and opportunities in addressing climate change and conflict. World Development, 142, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.104998

Balsari, S., Dresser, C., & Leaning, J., (2020). Climate, change, migration, and civil strife. Current Environmental Health Reports,  7, 404-414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-020-00291-4

Ide, T., Brzoska, M., Donges, J. F., & Schleussner, C-F. (2020). Multi-method evidence for when and how climate-related disasters contribute to armed conflict risk. Global Environmental Change, 62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102063

Koubi, V. (2019). Climate change and conflict. Annual Review of Political Science, 22(1), 343-360. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050317-070830

Nash, D., Memmott, P., Reser, Joseph., & Suliman, S., (2018). We're the same as the Inuit!: Exploring Australian Aboriginal perceptions of climate change in a multidisciplinary mixed methods study. Energy Research & Social Science, 45, 107-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.06.027

Planetary Health Alliance

Center for Biological Diversity 

• Tackling the Population Problem
• Human Population Growth and Climate Change

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

International Committee of the Red Cross

• Seven Things You Need to Know About Climate Change and Conflict
• When Rain Turns to Dust

Notre Dame Global Adaption Initiative (ND-GAIN