Climate Change, Development and Migration
Policy Lab
The Policy Lab on ‘Climate Change, Development and Migration’ brings together research activities on the three eponymous topics. Its core activities are based at the RWI; at the same time, the Policy Lab cooperates closely with neighbouring universities.
The focus of the Policy Lab lies in the analysis of the interactions between climate, development and migration – from a global perspective. In addition to applied research, the Policy Lab also analyses the role of science itself – in particular the robustness and synthesis of evidence, as well as its societal implications.
Research Focus
Climate policy faces the challenge of simultaneously addressing emissions reduction, adaptation and economic development.
We evaluate the effectiveness and distributional impacts of key climate policy instruments, including carbon pricing, climate risk insurance, energy access and infrastructure measures. The aim is to provide an evidence-based assessment of decarbonisation and adaptation policies in the context of development.
Climate change, demographic trends and migration are closely intertwined and are shaping processes of social transformation worldwide.
This focus area brings together research that specifically addresses the intersection of climate change, population and migration. We analyse the interplay between environmental changes, population dynamics and migration decisions, as well as their institutional and economic determinants.
Alongside climate protection, other sustainability goals are high on the agenda in international policy discourse. For instance, forest conservation, the prevention of air pollution and access to modern energy are policy objectives in their own right, whilst also being closely linked to climate change and development.
We investigate ecological and demographic dynamics, as well as their economic and institutional contexts. Our research combines environmental, development and institutional economics with empirically grounded policy analysis.
Social discourse and political decision-making processes are increasingly shaped by scientific evidence – at the same time, the robustness and biases of empirical findings are in themselves contentious topics.
We investigate how scientific evidence can be critically examined and interpreted in a credible manner. To this end, we develop and test innovative formats such as meta-replications, structured expert surveys to measure scientific consensus, systematic bias analyses, and studies on the role of normative beliefs in knowledge production.
The aim is to inform political debates through transparent evidence assessment and to strengthen the scientific basis of public debate.
Cooperation partner
The professorship of Kati Krähnert, who heads the ‘Climate Impacts and Adaptation’ research group at RWI, is anchored in the RUB's CURE field of expertise.
The professorship of Renate Hartwig, who heads the ‘Population and Development’ research group at RWI, is anchored in the CISE field of expertise at RUB.
The ifso is linked to the Policy Lab via joint doctoral training programmes through co-financing of doctoral positions.
The Policy Lab co-operates with the RWI research department ‘Environment and Resources’ on environmental and energy-economic issues in the Global South.
The RWI research department ‘Macroeconomics and Public Finance’ contributes expertise in modern instruments for macroeconomic analyses and forecasts in developing and emerging countries.
RWI’s Policy Lab Climate Change, Migration and Development collaborates with the Institute for Replication (I4R), founded by Abel Brodeur. I4R works to improve the credibility of science by systematically reproducing and replicating research findings in leading social sciences journals. The I4R also supports meta-science that strives to improve our understanding of how scientific results are generated.
The I4R Discussion Paper Series is co-edited by Abel Brodeur, Anna Dreber and Jörg Ankel-Peters. Please reach out to us if you would like to circulate your work in our DP series.
