Climate Mobility: Bridging Research to Policy - Session 2
Type: Virtual Paper
Day: 2/25/2022
Start Time: 3:40 PM
End Time: 5:00 PM
Theme: Climate Justice
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Organizer(s):
Alex de Sherbinin
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Chairs(s):
Andrew Bell, Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University
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Description:
By now it is widely accepted that climate factors can and do play a role in migration decision making and in shaping migration flows, though the degree of their influence varies depending on local contexts and the kinds of climate impacts experienced. For example, there is a growing recognition that underlying institutional and structural factors (i.e., root causes) shape the way the climate stressors impact local migration decision-making, and that highly inequitable access to resources, markets, and political power structures often set the stage for ensuing migration flows. Added to this nexus are other factors such as conflict, failed states, and breakdown of local law and order that make the decision to migrate/flee one of fundamental safety and security.
The donor and development assistance community, as well as the global policy community (e.g. the Global Compact for Migration), are grappling with these complex nexus issues as they seek to develop policies and programs that reduce the potential for distress or mass migration. Responses to date generally fall into four categories; 1) those that address the livelihood aspects of climate migration -- e.g., by improving the prospects for in situ adaptation; 2) those that seek to facilitate mobility as an adaptation mechanism; 3) those that resettle people in new locations and offer migrant protections; and 4) those that seek to mitigate the impacts of those movements, including environmental impacts, on receiving communities. Unfortunately, programs and policies that address the root causes of decisions to migrate in political, economic and social relations are rare.
The policy community is in dire need of research insights and data from the scientific community in order to guide program and policy responses to these complex “nexus issues”. To be effective, policies need to be based on a solid understanding of the complexity of migration decision-making, and to be grounded in migration theory. This session will explore the many environmental, social, political and economic factors that shape mobility, identifying underlying drivers of the various types of migration – from forced to voluntary to assisted relocation. A major but not exclusive focus will be on how this information can be used to inform policy and programs. Papers are invited that explore the sensitivity of climate mobility to climate stressors; review migration theory; examine approaches to assessing climate impacts on mobility; explore responses by national governments and development actors; review approaches to managed retreat and assisted relocation; and explore social protection mechanisms for those forced to move, among others. Examples of research or programs in low and high income settings are welcome.
Presentation(s), if applicable
Andrew Bell, ; Evaluating shared model understanding in the climate-migration space |
Fabien Cottier, ; Crop Price Variability, Environmental Change and Intra-Regional Migration in Africa |
Maria Di Landro, ; Exploring the evidence linking climate change, migration, and food security |
Cascade Tuholske, ; Rethinking Food Security in sub-Saharan Africa in the Age of Urbanization |
Susana B. Adamo, ; The key role of data in linking hazards, exposure, vulnerability and environmental migration |
Non-Presenting Participants Agenda
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Climate Mobility: Bridging Research to Policy - Session 2
Description
Virtual Paper
Contact the Primary Organizer
Alex De Sherbinin - adesherbinin@ciesin.columbia.edu