Displacement and Resettlement: Understanding the Role of Climate Change in Contemporary Migration

Abstract

How do we understand displacement and resettlement in the context of climate change? This chapter outlines challenges and debates in the literature connecting climate change to the growing global flow of people. We begin with an outline of the literature on environmental migration, specifically the definitions, measurements, and forms of environmental migration. The discussion then moves to challenges in the reception of migrants, treating the current scholarship on migrant resettlement. We detail a selection of cases in which the environment plays a role in the displacement of a population, including sea level rise in Pacific Island States, cyclonic storms in Bangladesh, and desertification in West Africa, as well as the role of deforestation in South America's Southern Cone as a driver of both climate change and migration. We outline examples of each, highlighting the complex set of losses and damages incurred by populations in each case.

Non-economic Loss and Damage and the Warsaw International Mechanism

“…Examples of indirectly induced NELD change include adverse impacts on human health following the contamination of freshwater due to sea level rise or heavy flooding (Nunn 2009). Loss of sense of place, traditional knowledge or cultural identity are often indirect consequences of climate change if migration is necessary for populations or individuals to safeguard their survival (see chapter by Heslin et al 2018). Migration is frequently framed as a form of adaptation deliberately chosen by migrants (Tacoli 2009).…”

Science for Loss and Damage. Findings and Propositions

“…As a result, relocations and some resettlement are already occurring or planned (Handmer and Nalau 2018). As people move, understanding the means through which SIDS migrants maintain cultural traditions and the challenges current migrants face can help address potentially irreversible, but avoidable, losses of cultural traditions in the event of mass displacement as analysed for the Marshall Islands (Heslin 2018).…”

“…Migration, particularly if forced, is an example of "beyond the limits of adaptation." Contextualising migration as multifactorial, a selection of cases including sea level rise in Pacific Island States, cyclonic storms in Bangladesh, and desertification in West Africa, as well as deforestation in South America's Southern Cone, presents instances of migration driven by climate change and variability, as well as other factors (Heslin et al 2018). The Arctic case on relocation and outmigration provides examples of instances "beyond adaptation" due to institutional, political, organisational and jurisdictional factors hindering implementation of adaptation to climate impacts, thus leading to losses and damages (Landauer and Juhola 2018).…”

Legal Responses to Climate Change Induced Loss and Damage

“…Further developments could, however, occur. Ongoing developments include for instance the Platform on Disaster Displacement which continues the work of the Nansen Initiative on Disaster-Induced Cross-Border Displacement and the work by the ILC on the protection of persons in the event of disasters (ILC 2016), as further discussed in the chapter by Heslin et al (2018).…”