E.g., 06/04/2026
E.g., 06/04/2026
Lawrence Huang
Experts & Staff
Photo of Lawrence Huang

Lawrence Huang

Policy Analyst

202-266-1932

@Lawrence_Huang9

Lawrence Huang is a Policy Analyst with MPI’s International Program, primarily working on climate and migration. His research areas also include development and migration, border management, and refugee protection. He leads a research project on climate and migration and the intersections with development, social cohesion, labor migration, and protection. He has also worked on issues around climate financing, conducted external evaluations of climate migration programming, and advised governments, international organizations, and multilateral development banks working on the issue. He also supports MPI’s work on borders and mobility, including MPI’s Task Force on Borders and Mobility During and After COVID-19.

Previously, Mr. Huang worked as a consultant at the International Organization for Migration, where he led capacity-building and knowledge management in an 11-country global program on migration and sustainable development. Earlier, he was an Editor at the Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration and co-ran the annual conference of the Oxford Migration Studies Society.

He holds a master’s degree in migration studies from the University of Oxford, funded by the Healy Scholarship at St. Cross College, and a BA in government with honors from Georgetown University.

Bio Page Tabs

Cover image for Funding Climate Mobility Projects...
Policy Briefs
March 2025
By  Lawrence Huang and Samuel Davidoff-Gore
Cover image for Engaging Local Communities for More Effective Climate Mobility Programming
Policy Briefs
October 2024
By  Lawrence Huang and Camille Le Coz
Cover image for Public Opinion of Climate Migrants
Policy Briefs
September 2024
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan and Lawrence Huang
Cover image for The Role of Immigrant Workers in the Green Transition
Policy Briefs
September 2024
By  Kate Hooper and Lawrence Huang
Cover image for Displacement and International Protection in a Warming World
Policy Briefs
September 2024
By  Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Lawrence Huang
Cover image for Managing International Protection Needs at Borders
Reports
July 2024
By  Lucía Salgado, Susan Fratzke, Lawrence Huang and Emma Dorst
Cover image for The State of Global Mobility in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Reports
April 2024
By  Meghan Benton, Lawrence Huang, Jeanne Batalova and Tino Tirado

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A woman and child walk in the Somali region of Ethiopia.

Is climate change a major driver of migration and displacement? From where are people leaving, and where are they going? This informative primer, a Climate Migration 101 of sorts, provides answers to basic questions about climate change and migration, starting with how and where climate change triggers human movement.

Women with children and a donkey in Ethiopia.

Can haphazard, unplanned climate displacement be turned into voluntary, safe migration? Projects explicitly aimed at addressing internal and international climate migration are rare, but development organizations increasingly are turning their attention to supporting them. This article catalogues climate mobility projects around the world and examines their primary goals, whether to support the movement or stay of people or help at destination.

Equipment for a USAID project in Indonesia
Short Reads
April 2025
By  Lawrence Huang, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Susan Fratzke
Photo of a group of women collecting water from a riverbed in Kenya
Short Reads
October 2022
By  Lawrence Huang
Two adults and two children wearing face masks at a migration health centre in Nigeria
Short Reads
May 2022
By  Meghan Benton and Lawrence Huang
Expert Q&A, Audio
February 25, 2026

South Korea faces a rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce. What role can immigration play in responding to these pressures? In this World of Migration podcast episode, MPI’s Lawrence Huang speaks with Juyoung Jang, a senior policy researcher and advisor on migration and demographics at South Korea’s Migration Research and Training Center.

River in Udaipur region during the dry season. Several families have lost their houses
Video, Audio
January 27, 2026

This webinar focuses on how climate change is altering human mobility and offers insights into on-the-ground experiences of climate change and migration in East Africa, South Asia, and other global contexts.

World of Migration Episode 23
Expert Q&A, Audio
January 9, 2026

Foreign aid budgets have been slashed significantly by governments in the United States, Europe, and beyond, raising questions about what humanitarian assistance will look like in practice.

People crossing flood damage in Nigeria in 2024
Video, Audio
October 31, 2024

Drawing from a series of MPI policy briefs that chart an agenda for policymakers to manage climate mobility, this expert discussion offers concrete examples of how governments across the globe can respond to the nexus of climate change and migration.

Video, Audio
September 26, 2023

During this MPI webinar, climate experts and regional authorities outline the challenges related to climate change and human mobility that local communities, national governments, and the IGAD region are confronting.

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Recent Activity

Expert Q&A, Audio
February 25, 2026

South Korea faces a rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce. What role can immigration play in responding to these pressures? In this World of Migration podcast episode, MPI’s Lawrence Huang speaks with Juyoung Jang, a senior policy researcher and advisor on migration and demographics at South Korea’s Migration Research and Training Center.

Video, Audio, Webinars
January 27, 2026

This webinar focuses on how climate change is altering human mobility and offers insights into on-the-ground experiences of climate change and migration in East Africa, South Asia, and other global contexts.

Expert Q&A, Audio
January 9, 2026

Foreign aid budgets have been slashed significantly by governments in the United States, Europe, and beyond, raising questions about what humanitarian assistance will look like in practice. This episode of World of Migration with Micheal Gumisiriza, a program lead based in southwest Uganda for COHERE, an international NGO that works with refugee-led organizations, focuses on how funding cuts by international donors are being felt on the ground.

Short Reads
April 2025

The termination of what MPI estimates is up to $2.3 billion in yearly U.S. foreign aid earmarked for migration and displacement projects leaves a vast gap that other international donors are unlikely to fill, particularly as European countries are themselves cutting their assistance. This short read posits three scenarios that may emerge, including one in which these funding shocks unleash long-discussed innovations and efficiencies in migration management and displacement programming.

Policy Briefs
March 2025

As the scale and costs of climate change and environmental disasters grow, so do their impacts on migration and displacement. Tackling climate mobility will thus require well-designed investments. This issue brief examines the landscape of bilateral government funders and multilateral funds working to address this challenge, how funding is being used, and opportunities to grow the resources available for climate mobility solutions.

Video, Audio, Webinars
October 31, 2024

Drawing from a series of MPI policy briefs that chart an agenda for policymakers to manage climate mobility, this expert discussion offers concrete examples of how governments across the globe can respond to the nexus of climate change and migration.

Policy Briefs
October 2024

Climate change can affect human mobility in many different ways. Designing policies and programs that reflect local conditions and affected communities’ priorities and needs is key to effectively addressing this diversity. This issue brief examines what localized solutions look like in the climate mobility space, why they matter, and how to overcome common obstacles that can keep local actors from playing a bigger role in their development.

Policy Briefs
September 2024

When drought, floods, and other climate impacts force people to move internationally, do they qualify for refugee status or other form of protection? This issue brief explores the lack of consensus around what status and rights climate-displaced people should have and suggests options for diversifying the policy toolkit beyond the international protection system.

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