Climate change-related migration and displacement: addressing the adaptation gap

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Sociology
• Public Policy

Background:

• Climate change significantly influences human mobility, including migration, displacement, and immobility.
• Both sudden and slow-onset climate hazards, compounded by social and governance factors, drive these mobility patterns.
• While global frameworks acknowledge climate mobility, national-level adaptation strategies remain underdeveloped.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the adaptation gap in national climate change plans regarding human mobility.
• To propose a diagnostic tool for assessing the integration of mobility into national adaptation strategies.
• To foster a shift towards anticipatory, rights-based adaptation planning that incorporates mobility.

Main Methods:

• Development of a structured diagnostic assessment tool.
• Evaluation of national adaptation plans across key domains: risk assessment, governance, legal preparedness, financing, and M&E.
• Focus on context-sensitive analysis and cross-country learning rather than ranking.

Main Results:

• Identified a significant adaptation gap at the national level concerning climate-related mobility.
• National adaptation plans often lack coherent implementation strategies, coordination, and monitoring for climate mobility.
• The proposed tool aids in evaluating and strengthening the integration of mobility into adaptation planning.

Conclusions:

• There is a critical need to enhance national adaptation plans to effectively address climate-induced human mobility.
• The diagnostic tool can support countries in developing more robust and context-specific adaptation strategies.
• Recognizing mobility as both a risk and an adaptive strategy is crucial for effective climate change response.