6. Climate Migration Is about People, Not Numbers

Durand-Delacre, David; Bettini, Giovanni; Nash, Sarah Louise; Sterly, Harald; Gioli, Giovanna; Hut, Elodie; Boas, Ingrid; Farbotko, Carol; Sakdapolrak, Patrick; Bruijn, Mirjam de; Furlong, Basundhara Tripathy; Geest, Kees van der; Lietaer, Samuel; Hulme, Michael

doi:10.11647/obp.0265.06

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Most NDCs reference and address human mobility as a problem or challenge, often in the context of climate risks, vulnerable groups, and communities, or causes of conflict. This finding is in accordance with the current literature on framing migrants and displaced and relocated people in policy documents or debates (Elliott, 2010;Farbotko, 2018;Durand-Delacre et al, 2021). Accordingly, most commitments and actions focus on avoiding or reducing adverse impacts and maladaptive aspects of climate mobility.…”

Section: Developing Guidelines and Toolssupporting

confidence: 88%

Addressing climate-related human mobility through NDCs and NAPs: State of play, good practices, and the ways forward

Mombauer¹,

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2023

Front. Clim.

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Climate change is altering human mobility patterns across the globe, particularly in climate-vulnerable developing countries. With increasing recognition of the complex interlinkages between climate change and human mobility, governments and subnational authorities have begun to address this nexus in planning and policy processes, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). To better understand how human mobility is integrated into NDCs and NAPs, we analyzed 171 NDCs and 40 NAPs, and conducted 20 semi-structured interviews and 16 workshops and webinars. We find that human mobility is increasingly featured in NDCs, but only few countries propose concrete interventions to address adverse effects or promote adaptive aspects of human mobility. The study also finds that many countries primarily focus on mobility as a risk, challenge, or problem while some have incorporated positive aspects of mobility (e.g., migration as an adaptation strategy). Through six concise case studies, the paper focuses on good practices from specific NDCs and NAPs that can enhance the integration of human mobility in a range of priority policy sectors for adaptation and loss and damage. To move forward, interviewees and workshop participants emphasized the need for adequate finance, institutional capacities, and data to strengthen the integration of human mobility into NDCs and NAPs. There is a need to identify and better understand potential policy interventions at the local, national, and global level, and to assess their impact and map potential synergies.

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Section: Developing Guidelines and Toolssupporting

confidence: 88%

Addressing climate-related human mobility through NDCs and NAPs: State of play, good practices, and the ways forward

Mombauer¹,

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2023

Front. Clim.

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“…Importantly, theory can also inform (or misinform) policy. Theories contribute to development orthodoxies [e.g., modernization (Rostow, 1959) and demographic transition (Caldwell, 2007;Handwerker, 2019)], and undergird the frequent neo-Malthusian framing of climate, conflict and the "threat" of mass migration (Verhoeven, 2011) found so often in the media and development discourse (De Haas, 2020;Durand-Delacre et al, 2021). This may lead to simplistic policy responses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The specter of mass migration owing to climate impacts has, in its best guise, been raised as a warning of the likely consequences of continued high emissions (e.g., Rigaud et al, 2018). At its worst, reference to "climate refugees" has fueled nationalistic and xenophobic responses, even when the intent is otherwise (Durand-Delacre et al, 2021). In essence these are political messages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration Theory in Climate Mobility Research

et al. 2022

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The purpose of this article is to explore how migration theory is invoked in empirical studies of climate-related migration, and to provide suggestions for engagement with theory in the emerging field of climate mobility. Theory is critical for understanding processes we observe in social-ecological systems because it points to a specific locus of attention for research, shapes research questions, guides quantitative model development, influences what researchers find, and ultimately informs policies and programs. Research into climate mobility has grown out of early studies on environmental migration, and has often developed in isolation from broader theoretical developments in the migration research community. As such, there is a risk that the work may be inadequately informed by the rich corpus of theory that has contributed to our understanding of who migrates; why they migrate; the types of mobility they employ; what sustains migration streams; and why they choose certain destinations over others. On the other hand, there are ways in which climate and broader environment migration research is enriching the conceptual frameworks being employed to understand migration, particularly forced migration. This paper draws on a review of 75 empirical studies and modeling efforts conducted by researchers from a diversity of disciplines, covering various regions, and using a variety of data sources and methods to assess how they used theory in their research. The goal is to suggest ways forward for engagement with migration theory in this large and growing research domain.

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“…This discourse was stimulated by the urgent need to portray environmental migration in a more positive light, away from catastrophic imaginaries on so‐called ‘climate refugees’ that will ‘flood’ immigration countries, which is often the case in many western European countries. These discourses aim to prevent the stigmatisation of migration as such, as they give rise to anti‐immigrant sentiments and policies (Durand‐Delacre et al, 2021; Gemenne & Blocher, 2016; Methmann & Oels, 2015). Furthermore, framing migration as an adaptation strategy put migration on the agenda of climate scientists and reports, such as the influential IPCC reports (IPCC, 2022; Felli & Castree, 2012).…”

Section: Framing Migration As An Adaptation Strategy To Deal With Cli...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing migrants' perspectives in ‘migration as an adaptation strategy’ discourses

Praag

2023

Geographical Journal

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Over the last few years, migration is increasingly being framed as an adaptation strategy to deal with climate change, to move away from apocalyptic representations of migration in debates on climate change. While acknowledging the merit of this discourse, this commentary calls for more attention to include migrants' perspectives in debates on environmental migration and reflecting on how such discourses work out in practice. As most studies have focused on regions of origin being impacted adversely by climate change, and the ability/willingness to migrate, the perspectives of migrants themselves and how they feel about their migration and integration, whether internally or internationally, facing slow‐onset or sudden climate impacts, have not been discussed thoroughly. This point of view is needed to grasp the preconditions of success for such discourses, as migrants occupy vulnerable positions in immigrant societies, but are pressured to have a ‘double engagement’ towards both the region of origin and destination.

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6. Climate Migration Is about People, Not Numbers

Cited by 19 publications

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Addressing climate-related human mobility through NDCs and NAPs: State of play, good practices, and the ways forward

Addressing climate-related human mobility through NDCs and NAPs: State of play, good practices, and the ways forward

Migration Theory in Climate Mobility Research

Bringing migrants' perspectives in ‘migration as an adaptation strategy’ discourses

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