Events

Current and Upcoming

Who Moves and Why

November 12, 2026
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
America/New_York
The Forum at Columbia University, 601 W. 125th St., New York, NY 10027 Foyer

You can attend this event in-person or online.

Who Moves and Why: Climate Change, Displacement, the Search for Solutions

As environmental change accelerates, millions of people around the world are being displaced from their homes - and the systems designed to protect them are struggling to keep pace. This event is co-hosted with Columbia Climate School’s Earth Institute Hub, the Columbia Global Center in Mumbai, and the Columbia Global Center in Beijing and brings together a panel of speakers drawn from academic research, civil society, and lived experience of displacement to examine the realities of climate-driven mobility: who is moving and why, where current humanitarian and legal frameworks are falling short, and what more just and durable responses might look like. The conversation is designed to move through the full arc of the issue - from data and policy to what displacement looks and feels like on the ground - and is open to Columbia students, faculty, staff, and members of the public.

This event is part of Displacement in a Changing World, Columbia Global's year-long series marking the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention. The series explores how today's shifting world order is reshaping the lives of displaced people and what global protection means in practice - connecting Columbia schools, Global Centers, and communities across the world in conversation.

Speakers

Alex de Sherbinin (Moderator), Director, Earth Institute Hub at Columbia Climate School

Amali Tower, Founder and Executive Director, Climate Refugees

Radley Horton, Professor, Columbia Climate School

Contact Information

Rebecca Leaman