ECMN24 Program

Sri Lankan government was completely unprepared to face the massive destruction caused by the Indian Ocean Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 which left over 30,000 people dead, almost a million displaced, and caused an estimated 150,000 people to lose their primary source of livelihood. There was massive damage to infrastructure and capital assets estimated at around US$1 billion (4.5% of the Sri Lankan GDP at the time), particularly in the Tourism and Fisheries sectors. The medium-term financing needs were estimated to be around US$1.5–1.6 billion (7.5% of the GDP). It was also expected to have an impact on the SL GDP of 2005, with a decrease of about 0.5 – 1.0% (Asian Development Bank, 2006). This massive damage combined with the high number of deaths, and missing and displaced coastal communities, forced the government at the time to re-impose the Buffer Zone regulation as a Disaster Risk Reduction strategy. Over 70,000 families who resided in the Buffer Zone before the Tsunami had to relocate to donor-built relocation settlements, situated outside of the Buffer Zone. There was resistance to this move from people who completely depended on Fishing and related income-earning activities. Despite the resistance, the Government chose not to reverse the Buffer Zone regulation. It is against this background that this research makes an attempt to explore the present socio-economic conditions of the families who were resettled 20 years ago. It is based on surveys carried out in three relocation settlements in Akmeemana, Galle, and one settlement in Batticaloa. It was evident from gathered data that most of the families that relocated to donor-built settlements have either moved back to the buffer zone or elsewhere, after either selling or renting or simply closing. This was attributed to the difficulty of coping with the multitude of socio-economic and cultural stresses, generated by the shock of the forced relocation process. This was evident in the soon-after, sometime-after, and long-time-after stages of relocation. It was also evident that a group of new settlers had moved into these settlements and the study deemed it important to explore how this new group of settlers coped with the stresses of relocation.
The study stresses the need for a more people-centered relocation policy, that considers all stages of relocation and looks at it as a process. This, in turn, will lead to sustainable and effective relocation in the long run, without subjecting coastal communities to further vulnerability in the face of Tsunamis or other coastal hazards.

This study traces Canada’s contribution to the climate crisis, the impact of the climate crisis on communities and livelihoods globally in the form of displacement and migration, and Canada’s current response to climate mobility. A qualitative critical policy discourse analysis of government publications is conducted to inquire if Canada is pursuing a securitized approach to climate mobility. The results of the study are used to argue that Canada may risk upholding climate coloniality in the future through border securitization. Using these findings, the paper urges Canada to embody climate justice rather than pursuing a securitized approach to climate mobility by asserting that Canada has a responsibility to repay its climate debt to countries in the Majority World. The study concludes with various policy recommendations on how Canada can uphold climate justice within the context of global climate mobility.

The effects of climate change and environmental degradation seriously impair the fundamental right to an adequate standard of living for all individuals, whether they stay in the affected area or move to other places. Yet, legal gaps and operational issues surrounding the protection of the rights of people affected by climate change and environmental degradation endanger them and perpetuate, or even reinforce, their vulnerabilities. In order to understand how policies can fully address these challenges, four civil society organisations (Secours Catholique Caritas France, Caritas Senegal, OKUP, ERIC) have partnered up to study the experience of individuals affected by climate change and environmental degradation in 3 different regions of the world: Bangladesh, Honduras and Senegal. Structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews are conducted with people directly affected by these phenomena, as well as with community practitioners, experts, and public officials. Based on these results, we first discuss how certain effects of climate change and environmental degradation affect the local social fabric, in both economic and cultural terms. We then explore the different mobility patterns they produce. Based on this analysis, we examine the implications of different migration systems on individuals’ access to rights.

In this paper, we examine the complex issue of climate mobilities in terms of the political roots of conflicts, socio-cultural contexts and the psycho-social health of populations on the move in Turkey. Specifically, we describe preliminary results of two case studies drawing on research that is part of the Belmont Forum funded project, PHOENIX – Human Mobility, Global Challenges and Resilience in an Age of Social Stress. The case studies focus on: (1) food security and belonging and (2) cultural survival and resilience. The food security and belonging case study focuses on the economic, political and social dimensions of food before, during and after migration to explain how different migration policies and economic-environmental changes influence migration decisions and the experiences of forced migrants. The cultural survival and resilience case study responds to criticism of earlier resilience research pointing to its overemphasis on the individualized nature of adaptation and the lack of sensitivity to community and cultural factors in contextualizing resilience practices (Bottrell, 2009). To analyze both cases we apply a governance of crisis approach to understand how diverse policy areas ranging from sustainable development and disaster risk reduction to health, food, land use and climate change might be bridged with larger policy frameworks to understand macro-meso and micro level dynamics of crisis that result in different mobility/immobility patterns.

Co-authored by: Soner Barthoma, Ozyegin University

Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world and particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The country hosts almost three million refugees, many of whom find themselves in situations of protracted displacement. Research carried out as part of CGIAR’s Fragility, Conflict, and Migration Initiative in the communities of Azraq and North Shuna in Jordan has shown that food, land, and water systems play a central role in the establishment of livelihoods in these displacement contexts. While climate change and resource scarcity are placing a significant strain on food, land, and water systems and can act as a source of local competition, they also provide entry points for the generation of shared livelihood opportunities. Political ecologies shape the way in which host community members, refugees, and migrants can access land, water, and food, while national legal frameworks around refugee and migrant rights limit the sustainability of local livelihoods. As research data shows, the design of humanitarian support programs significantly influences the relationship between host communities and refugees, partly contributing to animosities and jealousies around access to job markets and support systems. Successful ways in which host communities, migrants, and refugees manage to co-develop sustainable livelihoods, often reverting to informal solutions, has potential to inform the design of more peace-sensitive support programs. This paper draws on the conceptual angles of political ecology, climate security, and positive peace to contribute to the production of workable frameworks for moving from assistance to climate resilience within the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus.

Recent years have witnessed a growing recognition of the intricate link between climate-induced migration and vulnerabilities to modern slavery. While literature has explored the broad impacts of environmental changes on displacement, the nuanced connection between climate-induced migration and the heightened risk of individuals falling victim to modern slavery remains insufficiently understood. Acknowledging the intersection of climate-induced migration and modern slavery, a critical gap persists in our understanding. Prevailing perspectives often overlook the complex dynamics contributing to the vulnerabilities of climate migrants to modern slavery, necessitating a deeper exploration. This paper addresses the identified gap by presenting a comprehensive analysis of the nuanced linkages between climate-induced migration and modern slavery. Exploring socio-economic, socio-cultural, and political factors, the research uncovers hidden layers of vulnerability predisposing climate migrants to exploitation. By identifying these dimensions, the paper contributes to a more holistic understanding of the challenges faced by this population. Employing a mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative analysis and qualitative insights, the study rigorously examines factors contributing to vulnerabilities. Using survey data, case studies, and in-depth interviews with affected communities, the research offers a nuanced understanding of the complex relationship between climate-induced migration and the risk of modern slavery. The hypothesis asserts that climate-induced migration intensifies pre-existing vulnerabilities, creating fertile ground for exploitation through modern slavery. The paper aims to uncover specific socio-economic and environmental factors heightening these risks, proposing sustainable responses and policy recommendations to mitigate vulnerabilities and address this hidden crisis effectively.

People in West Africa, particularly in the Sahel, have a long history of migration. Seen as a phenomenon distinct from refugee movements, which are (generally) the result of singular and unpredictable events (e.g. civil unrest, changes in political regimes, government decisions) (Piguet, 2018; Zolberg, 1983, Black, 1991), migration is often described as a choice made after assessing one’s status and/or the socio-economic situation of one’s country in relation to the system of a richer and more politically stable host society (Richmond, 1993). This communication aims to move beyond these simplistic classifications by exploring the nuanced dynamics of mobility between Burkina Faso and Ghana. While Burkina Faso faces conflict and security issues, the adverse effects of climate change pose significant challenges to its agricultural productivity and resource availability. In this context, climate change challenges the controversial distinction between ‘forced’ and ‘voluntary’ migration as it puts increasing pressure on the lifestyles of individuals and communities seeking alternative livelihoods in neighbouring countries. How do migrants’ current experiences challenge or redefine the conventional distinctions between ‘forced’ and ‘voluntary’ migration? How are migrants’ decisions influenced and shaped by the interplay of environmental, economic and security factors? What conceptual approaches in the social sciences could be used to address the complexity of the decision to migrate? To address these questions, we will draw on the analysis of biographical interviews conducted in Ghana and show how the biographical approach invites us to consider migration as a more reflexive process.

The Andean Region, along with Central America and Brazil, is considered one of the most sensitive areas to migrations and displacement related to climate and global warming in the Latin American Region. Human mobility related to climate change is quite diverse and manifests in different ways along the Central Andes, which are formed by Colombia, Perú, Ecuador, and Bolivia. Simultaneously, these countries have important commonalities that result from their shared history, transboundary landscape continuities, and the presence of binational ethnic communities. Furthermore, Andean societies are marked by their colonial heritage, with social configurations where class disparities are intertwined with gender, race, and other forms of inequality. This paper presents a methodological approach based on the notion of intersectionality designed for a research project aimed at studying resilience strategies of local communities affected by human mobility related to the climate crisis in three countries of the Andean Region: Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia. It recovers regional contributions from feminist and decolonial theories as well as from Latin American political ecology.

Climate mobilities result from deeply ingrained multi-scalar inequalities and (in)justices that connect the critical fields of environmental justice and mobility justice. This paper examines the Environmental Justice-Mobility Justice nexus as it relates to climate mobility, taking a feminist lens to highlight how the two spheres converge and could be jointly applied to research on climate mobilities. We focus on the concept of capabilities, as developed by Amartya Sen and later applied to our understandings of migration. We argue that capabilities have thus far been usefully applied to explain migration-decision making in the context of climate change, i.e. whether people migrate or do not when faced with the impacts of environmental stressors, but that it has potential to 1) further integrate (insert justice) and 2) to be applied to the outcomes of that decision-making, e.g. if marginalized people and societies at large benefit from migration and whether or not they achieve their intended goals. To understand the structural and systemic drivers and outcomes of moving or staying, we argue for a justice framework that goes beyond a descriptive take on individual differences and inequalities and instead analyzes people’s capabilities as they are manifestations of broader, systemic co-fundamental justice dimensions of recognition, distribution, representation, and reparation. Rather than seeing (im)mobility capabilities as freedoms to and freedoms from, we define (im)mobility capabilities as the power to choose one (im)mobility path/status. In turn, improving capabilities through (im)mobilities requires those (im)mobilities to be empowering.

Co-authored by Caroline Zickgraf, Université de Liège

Increase in extreme weather events due to climate change exposes vulnerable communities in cities to displacement. Residents of informal settlements in the coastal city of Accra are particularly vulnerable to displacement from flooding, coastal erosion and sea level rise. At the same time, these settlements tend to attract people on the move from outside the city driven by many factors including environmental and climate-related events. In this context, inclusive identity, cooperation and trust are important to foster positive social relations and peaceful co-existence within these communities – across diverse groups and also vertically, with state institutions. In this study, we seek to assess the questions of – 1) what characteristics define social cohesion in the context of climate and environmental displacement in Accra’s informal settlements and 2) What is the role of climate resilient efforts in fostering and/or hampering social cohesion in these settlements. Using a qualitative approach, we assess these questions through interviews with affected residents of Glefe, Agbogbloshie and Old Fadama settlements, expert interviews with relevant government and non-governmental actors, and photovoice with participants from the select communities. The study is conducted in partnership with the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), University of Ghana and a local NGO – Peoples Dialogue on Human Settlements (PDHS). The study seeks to contribute to the growing scholarship on urban displacement in the context of climate change. Whereas, knowledge on building and supporting social cohesion in displacement contexts will be useful for development cooperation actors.

The paper provides a comparative inventory of national regulations and policy instruments for the governance of climate-affected migration in the Andean Region. From an institutional perspective, we explore the policy objectives adopted at the national level since the Paris Agreement of 2015. Such an approach involves describing policy tools, instrument choices or governing resources of Nodality, Authority, Treasure, and Organization (NATO). Whereas Bolivia recognizes the right of climate migrants or displaced people, Colombia discussed a bill on forced internal displacement related with climate change and environmental degradation. In Ecuador, the Nationally Determined Contribution incorporates a chapter on human mobility and climate change. In Peru, a technical document sheds an action plan to prevent and address forced migration due to climate change. Despite innovations, policy instruments still need to protect vulnerable communities and migrants, including “trapped” populations. Moreover, there is gap between policy objectives and policy instruments that bring into consideration the absence of a clear policy goal. The hypothesis is that the policy gap is associated with the difficulty of characterizing climate-induced migration, the lack of information on internal mobility and the diffusion of global policy objectives –introduced by multilateral organizations– without a supporting national organizational framework.

One of the consequences of climate change is human migration/displacement. This phenomenon tends to worsen especially in places with more vulnerable populations, without resilience mechanisms to remain in their place of origin, and which are more susceptible to rapid onset events and more gradual changes. Considering that people living in the Pacific Islands are in low-altitude regions, which are subject to water salinization, coastal erosion, loss of territory due to rising sea levels, and occasionally suffer from droughts that reduce the availability of drinking water, they can be considered as extremally vulnerable. This study assesses how Independent Oceanic Countries deal with the issue of climate migrants, considering (i) existing mobility and immobility policies; (ii) migration legislation that considers climate migrants, environmental displaced people or reallocation due climate change (iii) existing case law, to check whether the higher courts of each state consider climate migrants. In addition, the human rights treaties signed by the states and their international commitments to the climate conventions are considered to check whether the measures adopted so far align with their international stances. The states chosen for the study are Australia; Fiji Islands; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Micronesia; Nauru; New Zeeland; Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu, due the migration dynamics in the region, the geographical and population variation (including indigenous peoples), which allows for a broader analysis of circumstances.

This paper analyzes recent developments in policy responses to climate-induced migration in the Pacific area. The absence of unified governance architecture has long marked the issue of climate-induced migration. Rising interest in loss and damage under the UNFCCC led by the Task Force on Displacement established6 as part of the work program of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, or interests in climate change under the international regimes for migration and refugees, such as the Global Compact for Refugees (GCF) and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), show some potential, but comprehensive responses have not yet appeared. Against this background, national and regional initiatives to address climate-induced migration gradually appear. Fiji has adopted Planned Relocation Guidelines and Standard Operation Procedures for Planned Relocation. Likewise, the Solomon Islands have its Planned Relocation Guidelines. The Pacific Island Forum has recently adopted the Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility. Through the analysis of these recent policy instruments enriched by interviews with those involved in the policy-making, this paper discusses how these policy instruments define the issue of climate-induced migration, the characteristics of these instruments, and the stakes of these instruments as a governance measure of the complex issue of climate-induced migration. By doing so, this study unpacks how the national and regional approaches can fill some of the gaps in the global governance of climate-induced mobilities and the remaining challenges.

Global migration governance fails to address the environmental impacts of migration and its root causes. The perspective is a term coined in development, which focuses on the role of borders, the protection of refugees, the role of the state, and labor migration. Essentially, global migration governance can be defined as the norm and organizational structures that regulate and facilitate states and other actors’ responses to migration, and its primary objective is for states to work collectively rather than acting alone. When it comes to a global environmental governance perspective, it is the organizations, policy instruments, financing mechanisms, rules, procedures, and norms that regulate the processes of global environmental protection. A perspective like this helps in pointing out the impacts of climate change and the responsibilities of states and actors regarding how they respond to climate-related issues. These two perspectives can work together if the global migration governance perspective takes in the environmental governance framework on an international scale in the realm of climate migration. A way to further analyze the perspective is to approach it from a non-modernist ontological outlook. The non-modernist ontology refers to activities that help shape the world, making certain aspects and relationships visible while invisibilizing others. A non-modernist approach can be used as a way of looking at governance from an ontological viewpoint to help address the missing links that global migration governance does not identify when it comes to climate migration from an environmental governance perspective that it fails to perceive. Therefore, this paper will argue that to address the problems and experiences of displaced populations affected by worsening climate conditions, a rhizomatic environmental governance perspective, and non-modernist ontology must be adopted to deconstruct the complicated migration issues. Climate migration policy shaped by environmental governance rooted in non-modernist ontologies directs decision-making to focus on non-hierarchical considerations of human populations and global environmental spaces.

In our contribution, we examine the prevailing ontologies of climate migrants; and present insights from a literature review that shows a more nuanced and theoretically guided spectrum of human mobilities influenced by climate and environmental change. Amid escalating climate impacts on societies, the diversity of human mobility types that are affected by and that interact with climate and environment, is increasing. However, our understanding of the “climate-migration-nexus” remains limited by epistemological (approaches, methods, data) shortcomings, but also by ontological issues – the way how key concepts around “climate migration” are constructed and used in research, practice, and policy. These central concepts are often constructed along existing statistical definitions (e.g. non-migration vs. temporary vs permanent movements), are often framed in binaries (e.g. climate vs non-climate migration, displacement vs voluntary migration), or do conflate scales (e.g. spatial, temporal, social). This often misses the realities of the people whose lives, livelihoods, and mobilities increasingly interfere with climate and environmental change. Drawing upon a literature survey, we build a typology of a wider range of human mobilities in the context of climate change, the mechanisms through which they interact with climate and environmental change, and the contexts under which they occur. We argue that, beyond a much deeper understanding of the causal mechanisms between climate change and human mobilities, such a nuanced differentiation is also important to better understand the unequal outcomes of these mobilities on different social groups and their socio-spatial arrangements, and the differentiated needs for political action.

The consequences of climate change are particularly pronounced in Kenya, where 80% of the land is arid or semi-arid. In this context of recurring crises (floods, droughts, locusts), all stakeholders understand the short- and long-term risks for communities. What critical and constructive perspective can the concept of habitability offer in this context? Based on fieldwork carried out in Kenya for the HABITABLE consortium, the aim of this article is to refine the contextual, in situ definition of habitability, using exclusively qualitative data from the two phases of research, supplemented by video- mapping exercises. Secondly, this paper tests the hypothesis of tipping points, understood as triggers (tipping points) for individual or collective decision-making, by investigating whether the causality model they imply is relevant in the contexts of this study. Finally, in the last part of our analysis, we suggest ways of: 1) rethinking socio-ecological systems in a dynamic way; and conceiving habitability as 2) a common good in the making and 3) a critical (or even political) production issue for the men and women living in the communities of Baringo, Makueni and Eastleigh. Far from proposing a positivist reading of habitability, driven by an exclusively mechanical and linear conception of mobility dynamics, this article proposes to better link habitability to the daily practices, habits, solidarities and even resistances that constitute the ordinary life of community residents and displaced persons.

In 2010, the Cancún Adaptation Framework recognized the need for cooperative action on climate-induced mobilities “with regard to climate change-induced displacement, migration and planned relocation” (UNFCCC, 2011, §14f) for the first time. In this paper, we investigate climate mobilities as a complex set of discourses that (re)produce imaginaries of who is moving in the face of climate change.
Looking at key publications and initiatives within and outside the UNFCCC framework, including the Nansen Protection Initiative and the Taskforce on Displacement (TFD), we explore divergent discourses constructed by various international actors. Our analysis shows increasing awareness of a right to stay and local adaptive capacities with calls for drastic emission reductions. Surprisingly, this goes hand in hand with the rise of a new paradigm of moving people out of danger, which is closely linked to understanding climate mobility as part of loss and damage. International legal frameworks increasingly include climate-related mobilities. The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) rejects the concept of climate refugees, arguing that those affected are not refugees escaping political persecution. Instead, the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) has emerged as a key mover in the field. Moreover, new forms of bilateral collaboration such as the resettlement contract between Tuvalu and Australia are emerging.
Using the Foucault’s notion of governmentality as an analytical framework, we specifically engage with how human mobility in the context of climate change has emerged as a new rationality of governance in international climate politics in order to make climate change governable.

Co-authored by Prof. Angela Oels, University of Augsburg

The response to climate stress has manifested dynamically, spanning from seasonal migrations to permanent resettlements. This study explores the determinants shaping climate mobility decisions among coastal populations in Kerala of India, focusing on the temporality aspect. Drawing on empirical data collected through surveys and interviews conducted in select coastal communities, the research identifies key factors influencing individuals’ choices between temporary and permanent migration in response to climate stressors. The findings underscore the multifaceted nature of climate mobility decisions, revealing the intricate interplay of socio-economic, environmental, and governance factors. Socio-economic factors such as income level, and occupation emerged as significant determinants, shaping individuals’ ability to adapt and their willingness to relocate temporarily or permanently. Additionally, extend of impact such as loss of land to erosion, loss of livelihood/earnings and cognitive factors such as risk perception and place attachment played a pivotal role in shaping mobility decisions. Furthermore, the study highlights the influence of governance and policy interventions in facilitating or constraining climate mobility. Government support mechanisms, including relocation programs, disaster management policies, and socio-economic assistance, significantly impact individuals’ choices regarding mobility. Overall, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the nuanced dynamics underlying climate change-induced migration in coastal Kerala. By elucidating the determinants of temporary versus permanent migration, the study provides valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and communities to develop context-specific interventions and adaptive strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations.

This article critically investigates the planetary politics of environmental and climate mobilities. While the politics and governance of environmental and climate mobilities are increasingly researched, we argue that these can usefully be complemented through a lens of what we call ‘planetary politics’. We propose this interdisciplinary ‘planetary’ approach as a way to elucidate two distinct, yet tightly intertwined aspects of environmental and climate mobilities: first, the dominant planetary power structures as well as normative and governance frameworks shaping everyday mobilities and, second, the more-than-human geological and ecological planetary processes of change of which climate and environmental mobilities are part. Particularly, we seek to explore reimaginations, rethinking and diverse ontologies and epistemologies that are increasingly emerging in mobilities and environmental literatures, drawing on post-colonial, emotive and more-than-human debates, among others. We argue that this provides valuable new perspectives on environmental and climate mobilities and supports a move towards more inclusive and relational forms of planetary politics and academic inquiry.

This article is a joint scholarly exploration and is a collaboration between: Giovanni Bettini, Ingrid Boas, Simona Capisani, Orit Gazit, Lily Lindegaard, Sarah Nash and Jeroen Warner

In 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported 108 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide, surpassing 1% of the global population, largely attributable to conflict. Understanding the short-run effects of conflict on forced displacement is crucial for policy intervention, yet quantitative analyses in this realm are sparse especially when paired with extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. This is primarily due to the scarcity of high-frequency displacement data and methodological challenges arising when modeling imperfect data collected in extreme weather affected conflict zones. Addressing both issues, we develop a Bayesian panel regression model to assess the short-term impact of conflict on displacement in Somalia, utilizing weekly panel data that encompasses 8 million displacements due to drought, flood and conflict, and 19,000 conflict events from 2017 to 2023. Results suggest a rapid and non-linear displacement response post-conflict, with significant heterogeneity in effects dependent on the nature of conflict events. In a displacement forecasting exercise, our model outperforms standard benchmarks, underscoring its relevance for informed decision-making in crisis scenarios. This paper makes three contributions. First, we introduce a statistical framework that can be used to explore and analyze the underlying causes of forced displacement and has broader application in Bayesian regression analysis of high-resolution panel data. The model setup can be used to evaluate predictions obtained from theoretical models on forced migration, or to conduct scenario analyses. Second, we provide policy-relevant evidence on the impact of violent conflict on internal displacement in Somalia, contributing to the literature on short-run triggers and drivers of forced displacement. Given the challenges in data collection and modeling, previous research in this area has partially yielded inconsistent results. The obtained impact estimates can further be used to inform policymakers, NGOs, and complementary theoretical and simulation-based works, relying for instance on agent-based modelling approaches. Third, our evaluation of the model’s predictive power contributes to the literature on displacement forecasting.

The term “climate migrant” is critiqued for masking the diversity of migration experiences in the context of climate change. Some scholars suggest that the concept of “mobilities” offers a better lens for capturing these various forms of movement, their multiple causes, and dual directions. In this paper, I ask what conditions are necessary for adaptive mobility in the context of climate change? I answer this question through analyzing ethnographic and interview data collected over six years (2016 – 2021) from three climate stressed-areas of the globe: Montes de María, Colombia, Lagos, Nigeria, and coastal North Carolina, USA. I find that mobility and migration are enacted by the same households at different times or by different individuals within the same household at the same time. Households’ combinations of these multiple forms of movement create a suite of adaptive strategies used in diverse ways in response to climate conditions. Though scholarship often considers mobility a consequence of climate impacts, I find that what I term mobility infrastructure is a necessary condition for households to adapt to climate change locally though increased mobility rather than relocate permanently. This analysis reveals an empirically derived framework for mobility infrastructure in the context of climate change. The ability to adapt through mobility in response to climate change impacts is facilitated by mobility infrastructure.

In the area of mitigation, i.e. reducing greenhouse gas emissions, measures such as reforestation or the development of additional sustainable energy sources can trigger migration, displacement and relocation. Adaptation measures to climate change, on the other hand, have so far mostly been aimed at enabling people to stay. However, increasing global warming and associated extreme weather events are also making regions of the world uninhabitable. In the future, regulated and safe migration options will be needed, including the (planned) relocation of large population groups within countries and across national borders. So far, however, there is a lack of concepts on how these measures can be coordinated nationally and internationally and what legal protection those affected should receive. This also raises distributional issues, such as the conditions under which resettlement should take place. At the same time, there is a dearth of research dealing specifically with climate-induced relocations. Therefore, the paper examines the contribution that a development-oriented migration policy can make to domestic and cross-border relocation measures in the context of climate change, and the role that foreign, development and climate/security policies play in this context. Particular attention will be paid to development policy and the contribution that development cooperation instruments can make to increasing freedom of choice for or against relocation and to creating voluntary mobility options as an adaptation strategy. In order to answer these questions, best practice examples of climate-induced relocation will be examined, as well as other relocation contexts such as those associated with large development projects, e.g. the construction of large dams (often framed/legitimised as climate change mitigation measures). Among other things, the World Bank has developed guidelines for (involuntary) resettlement, which are recognised worldwide as the standard or orientation for relocations in the context of development projects, and has established accountability mechanisms, such as the World Bank’s Inspection Panel.

In 2010, the Cancún Adaptation Framework recognized the need for cooperative action on climate-induced mobilities “with regard to climate change-induced displacement, migration and planned relocation” (UNFCCC, 2011, §14f) for the first time. In this paper, we investigate climate mobilities as a complex set of discourses that (re)produce imaginaries of who is moving in the face of climate change.
Looking at key publications and initiatives within and outside the UNFCCC framework, including the Nansen Protection Initiative and the Taskforce on Displacement (TFD), we explore divergent discourses constructed by various international actors. Our analysis shows increasing awareness of a right to stay and local adaptive capacities with calls for drastic emission reductions. Surprisingly, this goes hand in hand with the rise of a new paradigm of moving people out of danger, which is closely linked to understanding climate mobility as part of loss and damage. International legal frameworks increasingly include climate-related mobilities. The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) rejects the concept of climate refugees, arguing that those affected are not refugees escaping political persecution. Instead, the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) has emerged as a key mover in the field. Moreover, new forms of bilateral collaboration such as the resettlement contract between Tuvalu and Australia are emerging.
Using the Foucault’s notion of governmentality as an analytical framework, we specifically engage with how human mobility in the context of climate change has emerged as a new rationality of governance in international climate politics in order to make climate change governable.

Co-authored by Prof. Angela Oels, University of Augsburg

The global shift needed to adapt to climate change will come in many forms. Long established food production systems are set to struggle while coastal cities face inundation by the sea. Other areas will be impacted by heatwaves beyond current local tolerance. There is a general acknowledgement that millions of people will eventually need to relocate due to the deterioration of the conditions which support life and livelihoods. Migration and displacement are becoming more prevalent in national and international dialogues about climate change; however, human displacement will not occur in isolation. Climate migration, broadly conceived, is a displacement of earth’s systems- both human and ecological. This paper reevaluates traditional anthropocentric climate migration and displacement through the Earth System Governance (ESG) research lens. Flora and fauna similarly depend on a relative stasis in their habitable zones and without such, will also migrate. Political borders and current governance structures pose a challenge to the migration, dislocation, displacement, and eventual relocation of people, animals, societies, and ecosystems alike. This paper will examine climate migration through the five analytical problems of ESG’s research framework and their crosscutting themes. Using ESG frameworks to reassess climate migration through varied scales, systems, and subjects demonstrates the full breadth of global relocation(s) necessary to adapt to the complexities of the Anthropocene.

The operationalization of the new funding arrangements, including a Fund for responding to loss and damage, adopted at the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference at the end of 2023, marked a breakthrough in enabling developing countries to address the adverse the worse impacts of climate change on human mobility. For the first time in any climate fund, the support provided by the Fund includes specifically in its scope of action, the promotion of “equitable, safe and dignified human mobility in the form of displacement, relocation and migration in cases of temporary and permanent loss and damage”. As a big win, migrants and vulnerable communities were expressly recognized as key stakeholders to deliver on this work along with a couple of organizations, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The operational response of the Loss and Damage Fund will, however, depend on various variables. Among the practical variables, the policies to be used by the Fund’s host entity, on allocation and dissemination need to be discussed and agreed. The fund’s establishment still has to come to terms with whether and how funding could be or should be made available directly to communities to address firsthand the economic and non-economic negative consequences on human mobility that arise from the unavoidable risks of climate change. In addition, the current funding pledges are clearly not equitable to the current and future needs. As a result, it is unclear whether all mobility types will be covered in the operational responses, and how NELS such as loss of cultural identity induced by displacement or the disappearance/lack of access to topographical landmarks, will be acknowledged and addressed as part of the Fund.

While the role of gender in modern slavery, trafficking and labour exploitation has been previously examined, research tends to focus on women’s experiences of exploitation. Scant attention has been paid to how gender affect men’s vulnerability to labour exploitation, especially in a context of climate-change related migration. Thus, this paper seeks to shed light on how gender norms and expectations configurate men’s vulnerability and experiences of unfree labour by examining the case of rural Thai migrants working in the berry industry in Finland and Sweden. By placing their lived experiences at the center of analysis, my results show that, although these migrants unequivocally work under conditions of unfree labour, most of them do not see themselves as victims of labour exploitation but as men who, carrying the burden of being the family’s main breadwinner, have made a rational choice to help their family’s survival in an region suffering the impacts of climate change.

Despite the growing recognition of the interplay between gender and climate change adaptation, a critical gap remains in understanding how gendered perceptions within households shape adaptive capacities and decision-making in response to environmental shocks. This paper aims to bridge this gap by exploring gendered perceptions of environmental shocks, focusing on diverse adaptive capacities, intra-household decision-making dynamics, and their impact on responses to environmental variability. Set in the rural contexts of Ghana, Mali, and Kenya, this study employs regression analysis using the Habitable panel data gathered from households surveyed in 2022 and 2023. The data encompasses responses from over three thousand households, including those from household heads and their spouses. The research focuses on investigating the relationship between anticipated losses from climate impacts and subsequent adaptation decisions, either locally or through migration. A pivotal aspect of this study is exploring how gender empowerment within household decision-making processes influences these adaptation choices. Preliminary findings suggest that climate shocks exacerbate vulnerabilities, particularly among marginalised individuals, and that vulnerabilities vary even within households. Successful adaptation strategies are associated with a range of socio-demographic factors, including but not limited to gender. This research contributes to the discourse on climate change adaptation by shedding light on diverse vulnerabilities and capacities to adapt. It aims to offer insights that underscore the importance of gender-sensitive approaches in developing climate adaptation strategies, thereby enhancing support for households affected by climate impacts.

Climate change, migration, and gender dynamics intersect in complex ways, particularly in the coastal and savannah regions of Ghana. The experience of climate shocks impacts populations disproportionately in these areas due to the difference in income levels and household dynamics. Gendered norms, which create inequality in communities, also expose households disproportionately to climate change impacts. We examined the gendered differentiated impacts of climate change on migration using data from a bespoke survey of 1027 households. Our findings show higher female outmigration among the study population compared to what pertains at the national level. We also found that while drought is a hazard that significantly impacts the population, it does not result in higher outmigration from the study communities. Populations in the study communities are more likely to be trapped in drought conditions, and female-headed households left behind will face multiple problems, including food security, morbidity, and mortality issues. It is critical for policies on migration to begin to incorporate issues of gendered differentiated climate-related impacts and the associated immobility issues.

Co-authored by: Samuel N. A. Codjoe et al.

The Government of Viet Nam has acknowledged the interlinkages of climate change, gender equality, and mobility within its climate regulatory framework. However, the focus on climate-related mobility has predominantly centred on macro-level mobility, which refers to the broad categorisation of migration, displacement, and planned relocation, with limited attention given to micro-level mobility. This paper understands micro-level mobility as the smaller-scale and day-to-day movements which involve individual decisions regarding daily activities, destinations, and modes of travel. Furthermore, challenges remain in translating national commitments into local action, as evidenced by urban flooding in Can Tho City. Complex interactions between political, economic, social, and environmental elements contribute to recurring floods, with a disconnect between central government commitments and local implementation, resulting in gendered impacts. Women in Can Tho City bear disproportionate impacts during recurring flood events, restricting their micro-level mobility in the household and public sphere. Women’s decision to remain during floods results from a complex interplay between risk perception, socio-economic elements which contribute to vulnerability, and limited macro-level mobility options. However, at the same time, these women also actively employ strategies to cope with their restricted mobility, which signifies their agency in negotiating the associated risks and adapting to recurring floods. These insights into women’s mobility behaviour during flooding offer a valuable starting point for policymakers to integrate gender and mobility, both at the macro and micro level dynamics, into concrete climate actions. The findings also underscore the need to pay more attention to micro-level mobility within the climate-related mobility discourse.

According to the International Organization for Migration, the world is facing a severe crisis as the number of people migrating due to climate change could reach an alarming 216 million by 2050. Furthermore, other estimates suggest that the number of individuals displaced by climate change could be as high as 1.2 billion by the same year. These numbers are predicted to rise at an unprecedented rate, posing a significant threat to global populations. 12% of the world’s population could be climate migrants, assuming the global population reaches 9.9 billion by then. This issue requires the intervention of politicians and international institutions to find a solution to this global problem.
One crucial question that needs to be asked is what the global public knows about a climate migration threat and whether the media is reporting on it. The objective of the speech is to present the findings of a research project on media coverage of refugees from 2019 to 2023. The study quantitatively and qualitatively analyses hundreds of English-language journalistic articles from various parts of the world. The speech will focus on topics and arguments. The analysis also covers media materials most commonly shared and commented on social media. Through analysing media news, we can gain insight into the role of media in environmental communication.

The research is part of the project of an interdisciplinary research group, #ENVCRE, at the University of Wroclaw, Poland.

To date, the majority of discourse and frame analysis about climate migration has focused on written text by researchers, policymakers, and mainstream news journalists in print media. Minimal attention has been paid to alternative media sources and formats, although available research identifies a growing trend towards video-based news. In this study, we focus on representations of climate migration available on YouTube, as a popular source for both mainstream and independent news, to which an estimated 20-25% of adults in the UK, US, and other European countries turn to weekly. Using keyword searches on variations of ‘climate refugee’ and ‘climate migrant/migration’, we built a database of 239 English-language videos uploaded to the site between January 2009 and December 2023. We described this database in quantitative terms, charting the number of videos published over time, geographical focus of case studies, types of channels publishing the content, and other relevant metrics. Moreover, we selected a sub-sample of 56 videos (< 20 minutes and viewed more than 10,000 times) for in-depth frame analysis. Each video was analysed to identify (1) key assumptions made about climate migration; (2) the terminology, rhetoric, and normative assumptions expressed; and (3) the visual representation of phenomena, actors, and subjects. While climate refugees terminology remains prevalent in video titles and descriptions, our ongoing analysis identifies other frames within YouTube videos, spanning a spectrum of representations from climate havens to future dystopias. These overlap with already identified framings, but also present specificities of visual media that challenge known discursive trends.

This paper explores how the media contribute to the representation of the two most important moral issues of the 21st century: climate change and migration, and how their respective mainstream narratives are (not) being framed in terms of justice. Indeed, rather than linking so-called climate and migration crises to historical structural inequalities and responsibilities, both are often framed equally as security threats or humanitarian emergencies. Its aim is to investigate how news media and awareness campaigns frame climate mobilities over the past 20 years, which is identified as a crucial time frame during which discourses and narratives on climate mobilities have significantly intensified and changed. All too often, the images conjured are of inevitable, massive, and permanent cross-border movements, contributing to apocalyptic and securitized climate imaginaries that cast mobilities as a threat to Western societies. Moreover, through the concept of climate and mobility justice, this paper tries to unpack the Panicocene, the age of panic, where climate change and global mobilities occur in a unique narrative of emergency that causes anxiety and discrimination. Finally, the paper reflects on communicative, creative and innovative tools and actions to develop and promote different and alternative imaginaries and narratives of climate mobility and its protagonists, through the eradication of stereotypes and prejudices and the production of new “frames of meaning”.

The article elaborates and understands the different stages of the decision-making process of environmental migrants moving from one location to another. It posits that the decision-making process that takes place, takes time and environmental migrants utilize their social networks from the point of origin to the point of destination when making these decisions to migrate. Data for this case study was collected using qualitative methods taking the form of narrative storytelling and focus group discussions from two field sites in informal settlements in Dhaka. We have employed an analytical framework to understand the different stages of the decision-making process. Our data revealed that aspiration to migrate do not happen the first time somebody loses their home but only after a continuous series of shocks. The different stages of the decision-making process are not very clear cut but are often continuous, interchangeable and requires a certain degree of preplanning with divergences in how men and women headed households behave and make decisions to migrate. The uncertainties and risks associated with migration decision making process is expected to continue as with all future events, mobilities are expected to become translocal and more women expected to join the fold of migration. The paper concludes by building on the findings and discussion articulated in this article. We have identified three specific action points to improve the current situation of environmental migrants, by focusing on institutional support, capacity building and opportunity creation, and knowledge creation and further research on environmental decision making processes.

According to an estimation by the IPCC, there will be 250 million climate refugees by 2050. Yet, we find that the Paris Agreement has strategically avoided using the term ‘climate refugees’ and instead used the term ‘human mobility. This deliberate omission points out the two-fold challenges in the climate change discourse. Firstly, convincing the public to accept that climate change does not impact countries and spaces in isolation. To give a perspective, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, over the last decade, nearly 700,000 Bangladeshis were displaced on average each year by natural disasters. The flooding in Bangladesh has increased displacement within the country and externally increased the migration load in India. In contrast, India still deals with this influx as a security threat and does not realise the severity of the climate concern. Secondly, to convince the governments to address climate change’s impact on migration holistically.
Considering these factors and deliberate omissions in the discourse, the paper raises the following research question on how these omissions have added to the invisibility and forced exclusion of the vast populations affected by climate change. The methodology used includes analysing the debates in existing literature regarding the definition, conceptions, and misconceptions regarding the terms – ‘environmental refugee’ and ‘climate change’ and their impact on the protection and rehabilitation of these affected populations. It also examines the implications of the inefficiency of international environmental regimes. Additionally, the paper uses the case study of Bangladesh to understand the invisibility of climate refugees. The expected findings highlight the glaring ambiguity in the international policy discourse and how the invisibility of climate refugees has affected the geopolitical relationship between India-Bangladesh.

In an era defined by climate crises and mounting barriers to cross-border movement, this article examines the intricate relationships between climate change, displacement, and U.S. refugee protection. Through a comprehensive analysis, incorporating insights from interviews with asylum seekers from Mexico and Central America at the U.S.-Mexico border, we present case examples that highlight the convergence of climate change impacts with other drivers of displacement. Our assessment reveals how some individuals affected by climate-related displacement may qualify for refugee protection when climate change impacts intersect with and exacerbate persecution based on protected grounds under U.S. law. Nevertheless, the existence of significant protection gaps for climate-displaced people underscores the urgent need for the development of complementary, responsive protection pathways as climate change impacts increasingly drive movement across borders.

For years, scholars have presented the EU Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) as a potentially suitable tool to address climate-induced migration and the plight of climate refugees, especially in the case of sudden onset events, such as storms and floods (Borges, 2020; Nuria Arena-Hidalgo, 2023). The reason for optimism lies in the breadth and flexibility of its scope (Arenas, 2005), given that the TPD is designed to provide temporary protection in the case of a ‘mass influx’ of certain ‘displaced persons’ by promoting balanced burden sharing among EU Members. As long as it was never activated (Van Selm, 2023), the door to optimism remained open. However, the war in Ukraine provided new political momentum for its adoption (Barigazzi & Lynch, 2022) and became a test bench of its functioning. This revealed the true nature of the TPD. The presentation will carefully examine the TPD and how it has been implemented to address the Ukrainian conflict to highlight its limitations and weaknesses in the context of climate change. Based on these findings, the presentation will conclude that this legislation is flawed in many respects, thus making it a poor tool for climate refugees. The analysis will also take into account the New Pact on Migration in which it is proposed to replace TPD. The presentation will contribute to the following areas: diverse mobility in the context of climate change (cross-borders movement); diversity of climate change events (sudden-onset events); socio-political processes (EU legislation and inadequacy of the TPD).

The environmental and climate mobilities scholarship has long focused on the ways that socio-environmental processes in areas of origin influence mobilities. Yet, the ways that mobilities, and migrants, influence socio-environmental processes in their destination areas have received little attention in both policy and research. In destination areas, migration and sustainability are typically seen as separate policy domains. When migration is highlighted in the context of sustainability in destination areas, it is typically understood to have no, or at worst, negative impacts on sustainability. As a result, migration and migrants are commonly left out of sustainability policy and planning. Here, we present a policy brief with key insights on the migration-sustainability nexus, building on new research demonstrating that migration is a force for sustainable development and that migrants are sustainability actors. We focus specifically on the city scale, recognising that on the one hand cities are key contributors to the unsustainability crisis and on the other hand, are the main destination areas for migration flows, bringing new possibilities to address current sustainability challenges. For example, migrants interact with their destination areas through influencing consumption behaviour and resource conservation and migration contributes to sustainable development through enhancing wellbeing of residents. We build on these insights to present critical action points to incorporate insights into policymaking, emphasising integrated, coordinated and reflexive approaches across all levels of governance to better recognise the ways migration and migrants interact with sustainability in their destination areas.

Climate change and migration has over the past decades become an established topic within international governance. This has been even more so the case since the mid-2010s, with the decision document accompanying the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 2018 Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration both including explicit recognition of the links. Since then, attention has intensified and the stakeholders engaging in discussions around climate change and migration have diversified, bringing with them a broader range of thematic interests. As a result, a second conjunctive ‘and’ is being added to the thematic duo of climate change and migration. Trios such as ‘climate change and migration and health’, ‘climate change and migration and children’, or ‘climate change and migration and food’ are therefore taking up an increasingly prominent position in governance discussions. While the increase in topics adds new facets to governance discussions and allows for more holistic approaches, newcomers to the topic also frequently revert to simplified framings of climate change and migration and struggle to move beyond sketching links to make recommendations for governance action. In this article, we analyse how stakeholders with thematic specialisations outside of climate change and migration understand the links between and climate change and migration. With a focus on stakeholders in the areas of health, children, and food, we conduct frame analysis of policy documents to understand how they are framing these links in their policy-facing work.

The number of people exposed to environmental hazards and extreme weather events in cities is projected to rise as a result of intersecting urbanisation and climate change processes. These impacts will be disproportionately felt by marginalised groups, including low-income migrants, who occupy hazard-prone informal settlements constructed on marginal land. Yet, migrants are often excluded from development, adaptation, and disaster risk reduction planning in cities. Exclusionary cities, in turn, represent a major barrier to meeting the ambitions of Agenda 2030 and stand in opposition with the vision of the UN’s New Urban Agenda. Participatory urban planning can act as a platform for advancing citizen’s rights by giving people an opportunity to shape decisions that will affect them. But how can citizen participation translate into lasting transformative change and sustainable solutions to urban challenges? We propose empathy as an effective mechanism that can lead to the development of socially more just and inclusive policies and programmes in cities. The study reports on action research to examine whether empathic connection between disparate groups, namely those involved in planning for sustainability in cities and new migrant populations, leads to processes that enhance and integrate new voices and perspectives. The intervention involved a cohort of city planners and rural migrants in Chattogram, Bangladesh, in photovoice, in-depth photo-elicitation interviews, focus groups and perspective-taking workshops over eighteen months of intensive engagement. The findings demonstrate that empathy for diverse social groups has practical implications for sustainability where individuals have agency and feel empowered to enhance each other’s well-being.

Climate change disproportionately affects the most vulnerable, including forcibly displaced persons. Here for the first time, we develop a tailored composite index to assess climate impacts on the currently 110 million displaced persons worldwide, revealing their current and future exposure to compound hazards. The vast majority of displaced persons (>55 million) are currently exposed to high compound hazards, with only 2 million exposed to extreme hazards. Without effective governance to mitigate these risks, displaced persons exposed to extreme compound hazards could rise from the current 2 million, to 50 million by 2040, predominantly in the Americas, East and West Africa. Effective governance has the ability to mitigate the compound impact of these hazards substantially, highlighting the urgent need for targeted interventions and adaptive policies.

Co-authored by: Alessandro Craparo, CIAT-CGIAR

What is immobility? Advancing a conceptual model In this paper we advance a conceptual model of immobility. While there is significant research on migration in the context of climate stressors, less attention has been paid to the more common outcome of non-migration or immobility. At two opposite ends of the immobility spectrum are voluntary immobility and involuntary immobility. Involuntary immobility has been termed “trapped populations”. Along this spectrum are almost infinite gradients of human mobility, whether this relates to temporary mobility (i.e. temporary education or work) or leaving (e.g. after a climate extreme) and then returning. The deterministic models of climate-induced migration and lack of studies on immobility, especially as a potential mechanism for adaptation, shows the value of critical social science research. We conduct an integrated literature review of academic literature (n=106) and a validation workshop with experts on migration and adaptation. From this we develop a first stage model of immobility advancing the aspiration/capability model incorporating intersectionality, needs and intersections with climate change risk. Moreover, we critically assess structural determinants, political economic and individual agency across scales as a key aspect of any model of immobility and the ensuing need for understanding the kinds of new governance structures and frameworks required and climate drivers.

Co-authored by: Adelle Thomas, Michael Reck, Arunima Sircar, Guy Jackson, Patricia Pinho, Olivia Zerbini Benin, Carlos Shenga, Lorraine Howe, Samuel Codjoe, Abu Mumuni, Joyce Soo, Murray Scown

Our paper examines the determinants of (im)mobility among individuals in Kersa, Ethiopia, in response to climate change. Utilizing over 40,000 individual trajectories from the Health Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) between 2007 and 2016, we explore movement patterns in relation to drought. Findings indicate rare long-term movements in some neighbourhoods, despite severe climatic events. Households in these low-migration areas display limited capabilities and low satisfaction with their living conditions, suggesting involuntary immobility or being ‘trapped’ in high-risk areas. Our mixed-methods approach combines a multilevel discrete-time event history analysis with field surveys, including Focus Group Discussions and interviews across three kebeles/districts. This method investigates the intricate relationship between environmental conditions, individual and household capabilities, perceptions of living standards, and out-migration patterns. The analysis also captures the complex personal trajectories and adaptation strategies in the face of climate risks, alongside attitudes and practices regarding mobility and migration. Key findings reveal that limited mobility can be an indication of several opposing forces, which are essential to differentiate. The most immobile populations, whether women or men, are less literate and live in generally degraded conditions (limited assets and poor housing and living conditions). In general, the effect of drought is negative on mobility for both women and men. Populations especially those settled in the midlands with irrigation facilities, also belong to the least mobile population, reinforcing the need to better decipher the potentially immobilizing effects of drought in different settings and the need to improve measurement of this phenomenon.

As part of an extensive research project aimed at understanding climate-related impacts on rural populations in Senegal and their internal and external movements, this paper focuses on two key aspects. Firstly, we delve into the concept of “mobility bias,” often manifested through an emphasis on studying migration while neglecting the perspective of understanding the preferences to stay (Zickgraf (2018), Schewel (2020)). Secondly, we aim to better qualify the reasons for staying with the village. To address the first point, we implemented a randomization strategy, alternately asking about migration intentions and intentions to stay. This approach allows us to explore whether priming individuals on migration intentions instead of staying intentions could potentially exaggerate actual intentions. Given that migration intentions are the conventional and frequently used metric for measuring migration in survey-based studies, it is crucial to gain a nuanced understanding of this measure. In the second part, we employ a Best-Worst scaling metric to rank respondents’ reasons for choosing to stay. This method enables a more detailed distinction between the mentioned reasons and provides a better qualification of the distances between these reasons. Our dataset comprises a substantial household-microdata set, including responses from 1,000 individuals across rural Senegalese villages from all regions, with a specific focus on young target respondents. The majority of respondents depend on agricultural income and are experiencing impacts of climatic impacts. Our comprehensive dataset facilitates heterogeneity analysis. By incorporating socioeconomic household and individual characteristics, we also contribute to empirical findings on migration aspiration and ability.

References: Zickgraf, C. (2018). Immobility. In F. Gemenne & R. McLeman, Routledge Handbook on Environmental Displacement and Migration. Routledge. Schewel, K. (2020). Understanding immobility: Moving beyond the mobility bias in migration studies. International migration review, 54(2), 328-355.

Co-authored by: Dr. Kerilyn Schewel, Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy, and Prof. Dr. Jasper Tjaden, Professor for Applied Social Research and Public Policy at University of Potsdam

This paper examines the mobility of Enseada da Baleia, a small island-based fishing community off the south coast of Brazil that was forced to relocate in 2016 due to coastal erosion related to climate change. It explores Enseada’s relocation non-linear temporality, incorporating past and future elements into their present to better withstand the impacts of climate change. The presentation argues that non-linear temporalities collaborate with the decolonising of adaptation strategies. The paper uses allegories of water and waves to expand the concept of ‘thick’ temporalities, resulting in a perception of time as knotted, circular and in a spiral, connecting the community to ancestral lives and practices. With its ebb and flow of waves, water embodies mobile agents with distinct trajectories and temporalities that converge and generate frictions in their encounters. This highlights that history is not seen as a linear progression, but rather, the past and future coexist within the present. Each moment involves the interplay of regression or progression, repetition or overcoming of the past. With the relocation, Enseada can reintroduce past fishing practices. These practices strengthen the bond between community members, their identity, and their traditions, providing meaning to the relocation and the continuation of the community. As such, indigenous adaptation can manifest as a spiral-like progression. This spiral-like progression embodies a ‘principle of hope’ or ‘anticipatory consciousness,’ offering a simultaneous glimpse of both decolonisation and its actualisation. Examining Enseada’s mobilities through the lens of non-linear temporalities helps identify vital strategies for adaptation and resistance, contributing to the vision of climate justice in mobility practices.

The planned relocation of communities away from climate related exposure is increasingly being considered and implemented globally as climate impacts are realized, particularly in low lying communities facing increased incidents of flooding, erosion, and inundation. While emerging case studies exist, there is little understanding of how planned relocation impacts upon affected populations wellbeing. To contribute to this gap, we identify 16 cases of planned relocation in response to flood events and coastal change from the literature. A qualitative content analysis was undertaken to identify wellbeing outcomes across five wellbeing dimensions of material, social, place, self, and health. We find that planned relocation can contribute both positively and negatively to wellbeing and identify factors that shape these wellbeing outcomes. As more communities and governments face the complex reality of climate-related relocation, it is critical that this process not only reduces climate-related exposure, but can support long-term wellbeing particularly for marginalized populations.

In recent decades, post-industrial waterfronts have become complex landscapes where processes of urban regeneration, environmental degradation and climate change adaptation intersect. In the Royal Docks (East London) expansive redevelopment schemes bearing progressive sustainability agendas are being rolled out alongside the expansion of fossil-fuelled mobilities provisions, such as London City Airport, and the fortification of increasingly-urgent flood protection technologies. Mobilities studies have contributed significantly to highlighting how post-industrial waterfront regeneration (unevenly) impacts people. In addressing questions around displacement, place attachment and accessibility, such studies often inadvertently reproduce a human-centric framing of mobility, thus neglecting ecological and infrastructural (im)mobilities. Conversely, Sodero’s (2022) ‘ecological approach to mobilities’ demonstrates the importance of studying more-than-human mobilities as mediators of human experiences amidst unravelling socio-environmental challenges, signalling its potential for new research. Respectively, this paper explores the merit of an ‘ecological approach to mobilities’ in investigating post-industrial waterfront regeneration in conjunction with urgent urban questions including climate change, environmental degradation and justice. Through interviews and mobile auto-ethnography, the paper interrogates the sensory and sentimental layers of mediating (im)mobility in the redeveloping Royal Docks from local residents’ perspectives. It maps how human (im)mobile experiences interact with the (im)mobilities of infrastructures, (un)natural materials and what the paper coins ‘redundant water,’ and interrogates the value of placing human and more-than-human movements conceptually and empirically on equal footing. The paper concludes that an ecologically-inclusive approach to (im)mobility holds the potential to inspire care, creativity and collaboration within and across academic (including mobilities) disciplines as well as real-world waterfront regeneration interventions.

References: Sodero, S. (2022) Under the Weather: Reimagining Mobility in the Climate Crisis. Kingston, Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Rising sea levels under a changing climate will cause permanent inundation, flooding, coastal erosion, and saltwater intrusion. An emerging adaptation response is planned relocation of people, assets and infrastructure to safer locations. Planned relocation is a form of adaptation insofar as it helps at-risk communities that choose to move to avoid adverse impacts of climate change, including sea-level rise. Yet relocation can entail maladaptive elements where it is associated with negative outcomes including loss of things that people value such as place attachments, access to resources, livelihoods, and health and wellbeing. Planned relocation is an unfolding process, yet few studies have examined relocation outcomes over time. In Fiji, several low-lying coastal village have relocated, in part or whole, to higher land. This paper examines planned relocation outcomes over time; it is based on research conducted between 2014 and 2023. It examines the dynamic and changing nature of: residents’ experience of climate and environmental risk; governance and decision-making processes; access to resources and services; health and wellbeing; and social organization and place-based values. It considers unevenly distributed opportunities and losses. The paper foregrounds change over time to provide in-depth examination of dynamic planned relocation experiences and (mal)adapation outcomes, an approach referred to as “geographies in and of movement”.

Within the Climate Migration Nexus there is an urging need to engage further with local communities, identifying perspectives and lived experiences as it relates to climate migration, particularly to inform policy and adaptative strategies. As climate change disrupts the livelihoods of communities in the South Pacific, individuals and family units will navigate experiences of displacement, (im)mobility decisions, the imaginary and the potentiality of displacement or forced migration. These lived experiences should not be overlooked in the discourses and governance of climate migration. Instead, these experiences, cautious of overgeneralisation may better inform policies and adaptive strategies regarding climate migration. This paper is interested in the form of poetry, choosing to engage with Pacific Islander climate change poetry to consider the manner in which climate change and narratives surrounding migration and displacement impact the lives of the artist and its community. Poetry as a method may offer a unique opportunity to understand lived experience, changed perspectives and even the politique in a way that is not constrained by academic bias. Moreover, engagement with poems allows us to amplify and centre voice which otherwise may not heard. Furthermore, the paper facilitates methodological considerations on engaging with local and indigenous production of knowledge and art which should be explored deeper in the Climate Migration Nexus.

In The Great Derangement (2016), Amitav Ghosh contends that the climate crisis is also ‘a crisis of culture’ due to the failure of authors and the literary establishment to adequately tackle environmental themes. This paper uses Ghosh as a springboard for scrutinising literary representations of climate mobilities. Additionally, it contextualises the cultural work undertaken by novelists by examining media representations of climate migration. In particular, it recognises the popularisation of alarmist portrayals of a world where climate-induced mass migration is inevitable and, for wealthy nations, a risk to be managed. These portrayals are bolstered by quantitative approaches that focus on the presumed large numbers of people who will migrate, often based on limited methods and yet widely circulated by NGOs, think tanks, and the media. Durand-Delacre et al (2021) assert that ‘a focus on numbers reduces political imaginaries of our response to climate migration to a narrow range of possibilities’. Surveying works by Paolo Bacigalupi, Omar El Akkad, Amitav Ghosh, Kim Stanley Robinson and Jesmyn Ward, this paper argues that literature has the capacity to expand political imaginaries and offer nuanced narratives that refute climate migration myths, especially when other vital themes, such as race, gender and imperialism, are included. Yet it also acknowledges that such narratives are often overshadowed by dramatic dystopian ones. In closing, the paper reflects on the implications that while the complexities characterising climate mobilities are depicted within literature, they are not adequately amplified due to media and political discourses that prioritise a more sensationalist approach.

This paper critically examines the politics of knowledge production on im/mobilities under climate change. Over time, the figure of the ‘climate migrant’ has become emblematic of the severe societal consequences of climate change, and is discussed in alarmist tones in many media, policy and academic arenas. In these narratives, however, the voices of those most affected by climate change tend to be conspicuously silent, if not altogether missing. In this presentation, I explore the consequences of such silencing in two cases of environmental im/mobilities from Chile. One is central-northern Monte Patria, labelled the ‘home of Chile’s first climate migrants’ in national media, where the local community emphasizes structural water scarcity and uneven resource access rather than climate change as reasons for outmigration. The second is Patagonian Villa Santa Lucía, heavily affected by a mudslide in 2017, where the community rejects relocation policies based on a fundamentally different risk assessment grounded in social representations of nature and human-nature relations. Drawing amongst others on Mimi Sheller’s work, I argue that emancipatory knowledge production about climate change, its impacts and suitable responses is a crucial part of working towards climate (and) mobility justice. This involves actively counteracting epistemic injustices, or the exclusion, silencing or distorting of a person’s or community’s ‘capacity as a knower’. From this perspective, including local communities as reflexive knowledge producers in climate change governance – beyond perfunctory consultation – is key not only to more adequate and locally accepted adaptation policy-making, but also to achieving climate and mobility justice.

What if everyone on the frontlines of climate change was equipped and empowered with resources, tools and information to make decisions about how to reduce their vulnerability to climate shocks, mitigate the risks they face, adapt to environmental change and to increase their resilience? It seems fair to say that this vision guides much of the research, advocacy and policymaking we engage in on climate change and climate mobility. The emergent and common mission appears to be aimed at reducing displacement and negative outcomes of forced migration; to tap into the opportunities of mobility as a form of adaptation; and, to enhance the adaptive capacity, agency and resilience of persons whose homes, food and livelihood security, sense of community and cultural traditions are most at-risk. We need all hands on deck to advance this mission. We need better data, policies, laws, adaptation and sustainable development agendas. We also need stronger mechanisms through which ‘frontline communities’ can serve as participatory agents of change and leaders at local and community scales. We need to engage those on the frontlines beyond exporting their stories of climate-related loss and damage and displacement to our international policy fora. Instead, bridging disciplines and crossing sectors, we need a new agenda for transformative action on environmental change and migration that equips those most vulnerable with information, resources and tools to affect change right from where they are. This presentation provokes reflections around the ways in which we work to problematize, understand and respond to climate-related mobility and displacement. It challenges the ways in which research, law and policy making, risk reduction, adaptation and sustainable development interventions are situated within a complex political economy of coloniality, with a particular focus on the enduring epistemic violence that often (re)produces vulnerabilities and marginalizes ‘frontline voices.’ This presentation offers new ways of thinking about, advancing and empowering the agency of those most affected by the compounding crises of climate change, migration and displacement within existing and future workstreams in research, advocacy, education, climate literacy, awareness raising and community empowerment.

Co-authored by: Lauren Grant, International School on Climate Mobilities

Mobility is an adaptation strategy leveraged by communities to prevent the harm that comes with being “trapped and immobile”. Most literature on migration predominantly paints immobility in a ‘helpless light’. Data from our research demonstrates that in some circumstances, immobility is a planned response that helps communities hold on to sources of livelihood, while also leveraging mobility towards a future that is both more resilient and secure. We document the lived realities of displaced communities in Tsholotsho, after the 2017 Cyclone Dineo. We investigate the politics and dynamics of (im)mobility within the framework of place-based politics in order to analyse decisions that informed the relocations from Esidakeni to Tshino in Tsholotsho. Our conclusions refute the notion that synonymises immobility with being ‘trapped’. We uncover a face immobility that is calculated and informed decision based on agency. We conclude that migration decisions in scenarios of climate-induced displacement are not only driven by capacity to migrate (resources) but rather the availability of livelihood opportunities in the relocation or destination area. We find that those displaced by Cyclone Dineo in Tsholotsho are managing two locations, their originally marooned homes of 2017 where they keep their livestock and continue to grow their crops (livelihoods), and also the place they were relocated to by the government. Our paper contributes to theory by proposing a conceptual framework that interrogates the impact of state policies, place-based politics, and livelihood options as intricate components of a multilayered decision matrix amongst those that are displaced.

This paper uses rich global survey data from the Gallup World Poll to analyse the relationship between environmental conditions and human mobility. An instrumental variable model is estimated that links geocoded data on environmental disasters to the anticipation of climatic conditions and individual migration aspirations. The paper confirms the established finding that the connection between environmental factors and human mobility patterns at various spatial scales are complex and context-specific. In particular, the paper finds that in less developed regions, an expected higher risk of future environmental disasters leads to a lower individual desire to migrate internationally. By contrast, in least developed regions, the anticipation of environmental disasters induces those individuals that wish to migrate internationally to increase planning efforts for international migration. These results point to causal relationships between environmental factors and migration behaviour in countries with lower levels of development. They add further nuanced findings to the discussion on climate change exposure, vulnerability, environmental immobility, and climate-induced migration and displacement of different types and at various spatial levels.

According to UN estimates, around 6.6 million refugees, comprising one-fifth of the global refugee population, have involuntarily become immobile within the confines of refugee camps. Currently, there are at least 500 such camps globally. These are traditionally seen as temporary solutions to crises, yet the protracted dynamics of these camps, especially regarding their environmental impact and evolving social structures, remain understudied. On the example of Kutupalong-Balukhali Camp in Bangladesh, this paper pioneers an interdisciplinary exploration that merges ecological theory with social science perspectives. The aim is to unveil the intricate dynamics of refugee camps and introduce the innovative “Theory of Symbiotic Refugee Camp Development” (SyReCaDe), challenging prevailing notions that overlook the symbiotic relationship between social and environmental factors within these ecosystems. Our research employs a comprehensive approach, integrating qualitative insights from on-the-ground interviews with Rohingya refugees and local actors as well as remote sensing data analysis. This methodological blend provides a nuanced understanding of the environmental changes and socio-cultural dynamics that both shape and are shaped by (im)mobilities in the context of refugee camps and their surroundings. The results reveal that refugee camps are dynamic entities where social and ecological changes co-evolve, challenging conventional notions of temporariness. SyReCaDe emphasizes the need for sustainable development, advocating for the integration of ecological sensitivity into camp planning and governance. By doing so, the paper provokes discussions on implications of our findings for science-policy interfaces, providing a holistic perspective on the challenges and opportunities in refugee camp development fostering environmental stability.

Co-authored by: Mohammad Abdul Quader, Department of Geography and Environment, Jagannath University

Climate change is a threat to coastal regions around the world, in particular low-lying atoll states in the Pacific that could become uninhabitable (IPCC 2023). In climate change discourse, climate mobility is often portrayed as an inevitability, not only for atolls but in other, larger Pacific Nations. Indeed, many Pacific communities’ call for “Staying with Dignity” have been ignored, along with their histories of resilience that have been used for generations in the face of environmental risks. This paper argues that the current global focus on climate mobility and the exploitation of “climate migrant” narratives to narrow adaptation futures in the Pacific does not reflect the reality of Pacific peoples’ experiences and aspirations on the ground. Indeed, without including those immobile populations who wish to stay, these narratives stigmatise Pacific peoples as tragic victims of environmental displacement, marginalize discourses of adaptation, and silence alternative adaptation strategies that could emphasize resilience, placefulness (Kiddle 2023) and resourcefulness (Farbotko, 2005). Climate mobility narratives relating to the Pacific need to better reflect the diversity of mobilities and immobilities responses to the climate crisis in the region. We propose a framework for “Staying with Dignity”, inspired by and building upon Anote Tong’s idea of Migration with Dignity, exploring the diversity of mobilities and immobilities that characterise responses to climate change in the Pacific. The framework will contribute to the scholarship on climate (im)mobilities in the Pacific and beyond, centralizing issues such as sense of belonging, “placefulness”, cultural identity, and sovereignty as crucial to communities’ responses to climate change.

Co-authored by: Dr. Dalila Gharbaoui (University of Canterbury), Dr. Carol Farbokto (Griffith University), Dr. Suli Vunibola (University of Canterbury), Dr. Christina Laalaai-Tausa (University of Canterbury). 

Although there is no encompassing protection status of climate (disaster) displaced persons in a comprehensive, legally binding international treaty, many actors are active in these contexts and considerable progress has been achieved. This paper argues that the soaring recognition of the rights and needs of climate displaced persons in political discourse as well as through affirmation in agreements and policy documents is a productive process, whose outcomes are created in and through practices of a (rather diverse) group of practitioners. The paper presents a practice-based, micro-oriented analysis of the steps and actions of theses practitioners during the processes that led to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the Global Compac on Refugees (GCR). The analysis reveals that especially four types of actors sought to address the impacts of climate change on displacement in the Global Compacts: academia, UN agencies, civil society actors, and states and regional groups. Working with information gained through 16 in-depth interviews and supplementary published material, I illustrate how these practitioners performed (1) agenda setting practices, (2) advocacy practices, and (3) opportunity seizing practices to achieve the incorporation of the (protection) needs of climate displaced persons in the GCM and GCR. Drawing on the community of practice approach, I illustrate how these practitioners’ shared agency translated into action, and, thus, contribute to an enhanced understanding of the ‘way of doing’ social change.

Who are the (inaccurately) so-called “climate refugees” and which protection are they entitled to remain vexed questions under international law. Refugees’ identities are usually constructed around the need for protection, in which the law plays a profound paternalistic and disempowering role. Identities of those displaced, or at risk of displacement by climate change impacts, are controversial and fragmented, deeply rooted in dystopian narratives, which obscure the colonial origin of climate change, migration and bordering practices. Accordingly, ambiguity revolves around the nature of protection required for climate refugees, together with the meaning of ‘effective’ protection. My contribution invites to challenge existing narratives in which climate ‘refugees’ embody the dual construction of either a threat to national security and borders, in face of the looming mass-migration that pressurises Global North countries, or hopeless victims left to their miserable fate. Such narratives feed into the existing conceptualisation of the “climate refugee’’ and dictate protection responses in place – if any, depoliticising and racialising the unrecognisable “climate refugee”. As a way forward, the argument reflects on the paradigm shift needed to move away from protection as a form of paternalistic protection to protection responses as a tool for climate reparations, exploring the preconditions necessary to re-think protection as responsibility-sharing and not burden-sharing on states. This requires to de-construct our understanding on existing identities of “climate refugees” and uncertain forms of protection confirming ambiguity as a racialising trope. It also requires re-humanising, re-politicising and re-historicising the “climate refugee”.

People are on the move due to the adverse impacts of climate change. Alongside other binaries, i.e. temporary and permanent, rapid and slow, voluntary, forced, and planned relocation, the climate movements might be cross-border and internal. There is a debate about the international governance of climate mobility. Without a one-size-fits-all mechanism, the cross-governance approach is argued as the correct forum. The objective of the research is to understand if there is any imbalance in the international governance of internal and cross-border climate mobility. The research has analysed various branches of international law and found some circumstances where more stress is given to internal than cross-border climate mobility. This paper showcases two points to support the stance. Firstly, cross-border climate mobility is, at the international plane, the elephant in the room. The link between climate change and cross-border human mobility is allegedly complex, whereas internal climate mobility is straightforward. Consequently, data about the number and patterns of cross-border climate mobility is hardly available, leading to less effective international governance of such mobility. Second, the question of State responsibility for addressing internal and cross-border climate mobility is challenged. To illustrate, home states (where climate mobility originates and terminates within the country’s border) are responsible for managing and protecting the people. Host states (where uprooted people take refuge crossing international frontiers) are, by contrast, hardly responsible for managing and protecting cross-border climate mobility. It is, therefore, concluded there is an inequality in the governance of internal and cross-border climate mobility at the international level.

The adverse effects of the global environmental crisis are impacting the living conditions in numerous regions across the African continent. Despite research has demonstrated the influence of environmental factors on human mobility, legal protection avenues remain limited, leading affected individuals to encounter multiple human rights violations. Despite the limited empirical evidence regarding the impact of environmental degradation on international forced migration, the application of the Convention on the Status of Refugees (1951) and its New York Protocol (1967) remains one of the most prominent proposals to address this gap. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to explore the extent to which environmental degradation influences international migration from Africa to Barcelona (Spain), by examining the environmental perceptions of migrants. Focusing on six African countries—Morocco, Mali, Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Senegal, and Ghana—the study seeks insights to determine which legal protection avenues should be developed based on the experiences and perceptions of those directly involved, thereby challenging mainstream proposals such as “environmental refugees”. The methodology employed involves conducting surveys, participatory workshops with socio-cultural mediation, and reviewing secondary sources. The study concludes that while most migrants do not attribute their migration to Barcelona directly to environmental dispossession, a noticeable link exists between certain environmental factors and the lack of habitability in their countries of origin. Based on these findings, the paper argues for the necessity to broaden the debate beyond the concept of “climate refugees” and to develop alternative mechanisms and strategies, also at the local level.

Climatic changes are already affecting nearly every place on the planet, but the ways in which those changes are perceived by individuals and local communities may vary considerably. Perception is the lens through which individuals see and judge their environment. Differently perceived physical conditions (prolonged drought, limited personal resources) may trigger entirely different actions by individuals and hence lead to different outcomes. Perception drives action but remains strikingly under-represented in climate change impact studies. In particular for individual adaptation decisions, such as migration to environmental hardship, perception plays a crucial role, as it is influenced by individual experiences, capabilities and needs. The objective of this study is to identify perceived causes and consequences of migration decisions among residents in three net out-migration rural communities located in Ghana, Kenya, and Mali. These communities share environmental stressors in the form of prolonged drought and increasing climate variability and are characterized by a high reliance on subsistence, rain-fed agriculture. In our results however, the data shows substantial differences in migration responses to these characteristics. This study therefore investigates three questions: (1) Why do people choose to move? (2) What factors are evaluated during that decision-making process? (3) How do these factors vary across different contexts? The results of the analysis provide insight into the specificities of these communities and the complex ways in which perceptions of climate change relate to local contexts and related migration decisions. Specific areas of divergence are considered at the local and regional level, and recommendations for further research directions are given.

Co-authored by: Diana Reckien, University of Twente

Pastoralists, with their deep knowledge of ecosystems, weather and seasonalities, have long exemplified resilience and adaptability in the face of environmental changes and climate shifts, navigating their livestock through varying ecological formations (Chao and Enari 2021) to find suitable rangeland, water and other resources (Muluken et al. 2018). The IPCC, however, noted that cultural losses – both tangible and intangible – increasingly threaten the adaptive capacities, of indigenous people reliant on the environment for subsistence (IPCC 2023: 17). This study delves into the interplay between cultural heritage, environmental practices, and mobile livelihoods of pastoralists facing climate change in Ethiopia. It investigates how they, adapt to environmental change through their cultural and environmental knowledge systems and practices. Drawing upon the theoretical foundation laid by Chao and Enari (2021), this talk contributes to the ongoing conversation on decolonizing climate change responses, highlighting the role of beyond-human imaginaries and diverse epistemologies in shaping more inclusive and sustainable futures. The study utilizes a multidisciplinary and comparative approach, drawing from climate science, social sciences, and indigenous perspectives to understand the interplay of climate change and cultural heritage in different geographical settings. It highlights the significance of indigenous epistemologies in shaping adaptation to climate change, offering insights beyond technical fixes or large scale, top down adaptation projects. The research aims to contribute to the discourse on climate-related mobilities and immobilities, providing a nuanced understanding of the role socio-cultural factors play in resilience building and climate change adaptation. This study seeks to inform policy-making by bridging scientific approaches with indigenous perspectives.

The Fante fisherfolk from Ghana, known for their nomadic fishery practices, have navigated the coast of West Africa for fishing and land-based postharvest fishery activities for centuries. Fante mobile fishery practices are deeply rooted in social and cultural relations, networks of actors, and historic connections with fluid land-sea spaces, local knowledge, and traditional institutions embedded in a transnational context. The target fish species of Fante communities in some parts of the region later shifted from mainly small pelagic fish species to large pelagics, including migratory sharks. But the evolving dynamics of their interconnected land-sea mobile fishery practices and regulatory entanglements of their shark fishery in the face of increasing socio-environmental stressors remain understudied. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Senegal, Gambia, and Ghana, this paper examines the ways the network of actors in the Fante shark fishery actively confronts and navigates these emerging challenges in their cross-border mobile fishery practices. The transnational network of actors in the Fante shark fishery now has to contend with complex and intertwined challenges in two folds: first, increasing socio-environmental and climatic changes that influence seasonal fish availability and flows and navigation at sea and land-based fish processing activities. Second, emerging national and supranational fisheries and shark conservation regimes, coupled with border regulations, shape their cross-border fishery mobilities within the wider socio-economic and political context of West Africa. The paper highlights the central role of transnational identity, traditional institutions, shifting relations, and networked practices in navigation strategies across land-sea spaces in the Fante shark fishery.

Climate can affect conflict. These impacts are indirect and manifest along specific causal pathways, within specific scope conditions. Migration has been portrayed as one such pathway. Yet, a systematic understanding is missing. Therefore, we systematically review existing quantitative publications asking ‘How does climate migration affect conflict?’. Hereby, we pursue three goals. First, we synthesize the statistical evidence of climate migration impacts on conflict. We elucidate how distinct forms of climate migration contribute to different security outcomes. Additionally, we will assess the contexts underpinning these effects. Second, we elaborate to what extent the employed approaches can conclude causality, discussing methodological limitations. Third, we derive causal inference techniques from statistical learning to better disentangle causal links between climate migration and conflict. The findings shall help policy makers and researchers to assess the reliability of the findings against the backdrop of the applied modelling approaches. We build the review on database search, complemented by backward and forward searches on relevant articles, identifying thirteen relevant peer-reviewed articles. Our preliminary results demonstrate that nine studies find climate migration increases or prolongs various types of conflict, e.g. international conflict, interpersonal conflict, and riots. Four studies find that climate migration does not affect conflict. These studies yet have to weighted against each other, including a discussion of potential biases. Further, there is no methodological gold standard to assess the nexus: studies apply a range of statistical approaches, such as two-stage and parallel regressions. The costs and benefits of these approaches are about to be assessed.

This paper studies the effect of the 2019-21 desert locust outbreak on the intention to migrate among rural households and individuals in Yemen, as an illustration of the human mobility impacts of climate change-related shocks in a complex emergency setting. Using the first systematic household survey conducted in southern Yemen since the beginning of the ongoing conflict, I find that a one-standard deviation increase in exposure to desert locusts increases the individual willingness to migrate (internally or abroad) by 12 percentage points among rural residents. The effects are driven by agriculture/livestock-dependent households, plausibly due to the income shock experienced by them as a result of locust exposure. I rule out alternate explanations offered by the selective targeting of aid, selective locust control operations, or by the exacerbation of underlying conflict, and argue that the findings are consistent with distress migration. While exposure to locust swarms increases the willingness to migrate in low-conflict areas, it deters migration intentions in high-conflict and rebel-held areas, potentially because of the higher monetary and psychological costs of migrating in insecure settings, underlining the role of conflict and safety perceptions in mediating mobility responses to shocks. Finally, I show that despite an increase in the willingness to migrate following locust outbreaks, very few people may in fact be able to migrate as they lack the necessary resources. As migration intentions may not be realised, most of the affected population may instead be “trapped” – willing, but unable to migrate in response to a formidable natural disaster.

What (im)mobilities take shape in the aftermath of climate change-related extreme weather events? “Who can leave the disaster zone, and who can arrive?” (Sheller, 2020, p. 2). Guided by these questions, the paper will present preliminary research conducted in Barbuda in the aftermath of the destructive passage of Hurricane Irma. The paper investigates the (im)mobilities that took shape as a consequence of both the hurricane and the connected policy responses. These (im)mobilities include, but are not limited to evacuation, prolonged displacement/immobility, and return to the island. Each of these (im)mobilities is shaped by a combination of top-down decision-making by local state authorities on the level of management, and bottom-up decision-making and coping strategies by affected people. The paper focuses on identifying multiple and clashing discourses and practices constructed by these different actors around local disaster (im)mobilities. The analysis of these contested discourses and practices attempts to shed light on the complexities of the climate change-human mobility nexus and to highlight its inherently political character. This is done in an effort to contrast the depoliticising and naturalizing effect that dominant narratives exert on the ways this nexus is conceptualized. A theoretical perspective informed by the concepts of climate justice and mobility justice is employed to analyze the contentious politics of climate change (im)mobilities and the multiple and interconnected (in)justice issues that are at their core.

Research on the environmental change-migration nexus reveals diverse im/mobility responses to environmental challenges: staying put, adaptive migration, or forced movement due to stress (Boas et al., 2019; Nienkerke, Thorat, Patt, 2023). Favourable scenarios occur when migration decisions — either to relocate or stay — are voluntary, aligning individuals&#39; aspirations with their capabilities, thereby ensuring their autonomy in choosing living arrangements (Schewel, 2020). Incorporating migration data into vulnerability mapping for climate change could be critical for better understanding who and where is most exposed to environmental risks (de Sherbinin et al., 2019), as well as identifying those potentially at risk of distress migration or involuntary immobility. Utilising socio-ecological vulnerability indexes and migration data from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) Kersa dataset, this study employs the Uber H3 hexagonal grid to map and compare im/mobility patterns across different resolutions. This approach brings two significant insights. First, mapping at small resolutions makes visible inequalities in capabilities among populations at the highly heterogeneous sub-district level, thereby offering a granular understanding of who is most at risk of distressmigration or immobility. Secondly, by delving into the use of local vulnerability assessments, the study aims to contribute to the discourse on community-based adaptation strategies. This includes addressing and advancing solutions to ethical and policy issues related to the use of spatial data, as well as overcoming data integration challenges.

Co-authored by: Marion Borderon, Audrey Brouillet, Patrick Sakdapolrak, Institut de Recherche et Développement, ESPACE-DEV, Department of Geography and Regional Research, and University of Vienna