Ms. Cleo Varianou Mikellidou, Research Associate of CERIDES, participated in Athens (8-12 October 2018) at the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) Pilot Course – Migration Flow, Border Management and GSDP. Ms. Varianou delivered a presentation in Climate Change, population movements and conflicts in the MENA region. The event was hosted by the Centre for Security Studies (KEMEA) and partners from all over the EU countries were participated.
CERIDES role was to highlight the fact that climate change threatens Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region which is already fragile. The region has experienced a rise in annual temperatures over the past decades and changes in rainfall patterns, increasing the frequency of floods and droughts. Migration is a widespread strategy to cope with and adapt to changes in climatic and environmental conditions. Thus, the results are 3 in every 10 households (29.9 percent) are having migrants which might lead to security threats.
