Migration climatique : mesurer l’immesurable ?

This paper considers climate migration not as an object of measurement or quantification, but as a semiotic and political apparatus through which climate change becomes tangible and interpretable in the public sphere. The figure of the climate migrant thus functions as a discursive mediator, translating the effects of climate change into accessible narratives and social and political stakes. By examining how media representations construct this figure across different scales – from local micro narratives to global macro-narratives – the paper demonstrates that numbers and statistics do not merely represent the phenomenon; rather, they actively contribute to shaping its perception by modulating attention, affective responses, and collective interpretation. Drawing on the work of Bruno Latour, the analysis proposes a rethinking of the relationship between narration, truth effects, and political action from the perspective of the “Terrestrial,” understood not as a natural backdrop but as an emerging political actor within the public sphere.