Migration

Migration – whether internal or across international borders – can be a vital tool for people living in areas where climate change poses risks to land, lives and livelihoods. It can allow people to move out of harm’s way before disaster strikes – safely, and on their own terms. In this sense, it can be a climate adaptation and risk-management strategy.

Choosing to move may also prevent future displacement, providing a kind of release valve by reducing pressure on limited resources in a place vulnerable to
climate risks.

Millions of people are already on the move in an ad hoc way, notes Alex Randall, the program lead at the Climate and Migration Coalition, a civil society organisation dedicated to understanding the links between climate change and migration.

‘Their journeys are often difficult and dangerous – even if they don’t cross international borders. People are often exploited in their new work environments or struggle to access healthcare and housing. But what if people were supported to make these journeys? What if people were protected from the new risks they faced? What if new work opportunities were created for people to move to? This would harness and amplify an existing migratory trend and open it up to new people. This is what “migration as adaptation” means,’ Randall writes.

Done well, migration can be a win-win, benefiting migrants and the countries to which they move. For instance, in the Pacific, the region’s ‘stability and prosperity ... directly impacts Australia,’ says the Kaldor Centre’s Director, Professor Jane McAdam. ‘Australia, in turn, benefits from the economic and social contributions made by Pacific people here.’ The Lowy Institute has pointed out that if only one per cent of the Pacific’s relatively small population were permitted to work permanently in Australia, this would bring more benefits to the people of the Pacific than Australia’s aid contribution. Migration can enhance the resilience of those who move, as well as those who stay behind, who may benefit from the increased flow of information and resources that migration generates.

The need for, and benefits of, migration in the context of climate change and disasters are being recognised around the world. A 2021 report from the Biden White House stated that migration is not only ‘an important form of adaptation to the impacts of climate change’, but sometimes ‘an essential response’. The report acknowledged that permanent, and not just temporary, migration pathways are needed. It also recommended new protection pathways for people facing serious threats to their lives because of climate change, noting this is a compelling issue of US national interest. [See ‘Solutions: Protection’.] In November 2023, Tuvalu and Australia announced a new bilateral treaty which, among other things, creates a ‘special human mobility pathway’ for Tuvaluans to work, study and live in Australia. Framed in the context of climate change, this new scheme will initially allow up to 280 Tuvaluans (from a population of around 11,200) to migrate to Australia each year.

Of course, migration is not always rosy and can carry risks of discrimination, exploitation and abuse. That is why adequate safeguards must be put in place to ensure that migrants are treated in accordance with human rights and labour law standards and have access to local support and services.

And not everyone wants to migrate. In the Pacific, for instance, people’s prior experiences of migration or relocation, their religious beliefs, their age and their connections to land all affect how they view migration as a response to climate impacts. Some Pacific countries have shifted their approach over time – from outward-focused advocacy on ‘migration with dignity’, to a more inward focus on resilience-building and/or internal movement.