The aim of this paper is to assess the relationship between natural disasters caused by
climate change and migration by examining migration rates and levels of education in
developing countries. Many studies such as the Stern review (2007) or the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) predict an intensification of climate change for future
years. Thus climate change has taken an essential place in world governance. The
relationship between climate change, natural disasters and migration is crucial; developed
countries need to manage the increasingly complicated issues of additional incoming
migratory flows caused by environmental degradation. We investigate this relationship by
using panel data from developing countries in order to see the effect of natural disasters on
migration rates and how that varies according to the level of education. Estimations are made
with a country fixed effects estimator through an accurate econometric model. The results
confirm previous studies, namely that natural disasters are positively associated with
emigration rates. But beyond this result, the main contribution of this paper is to show that
natural disasters due to climate change exacerbate the brain drain in developing countries
characterized by the migration of highly skilled people just when those countries are at their
most vulnerable and need greater support from skilled workers to deal with the damage
associated with natural disasters. The paper also shows that this effect varies depending on
geographical location.