Alex de Sherbinin

François Gemenne

Kees van der Geest

Koko Warner

Frontiers in Climate

Directory of Open Access Journals

TYPE EditorialPUBLISHED 23 June 2023DOI 10.3389/fclim.2023.1231679OPEN ACCESSEDITED AND REVIEWED BYSamuel Nii Ardey Codjoe,University of Ghana, Ghana*CORRESPONDENCEKees van der Geestgeest@ehs.unu.eduRECEIVED 30 May 2023ACCEPTED 07 June 2023PUBLISHED 23 June 2023CITATIONvan der Geest K, de Sherbinin A, Gemenne Fand Warner K (2023) Editorial: Climatemigration research and policy connections:progress since the Foresight Report.Front. Clim. 5:1231679.doi: 10.3389/fclim.2023.1231679COPYRIGHT© 2023 van der Geest, de Sherbinin, Gemenneand Warner. This is an open-access articledistributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License (CC BY). The use,distribution or reproduction in other forums ispermitted, provided the original author(s) andthe copyright owner(s) are credited and thatthe original publication in this journal is cited, inaccordance with accepted academic practice.No use, distribution or reproduction ispermitted which does not comply with theseterms.Editorial: Climate migrationresearch and policy connections:progress since the ForesightReportKees van der Geest1*, Alex de Sherbinin2, François Gemenne3 andKoko Warner41United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Bonn,North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 2Center for International Earth Science Information Network(CIESIN), Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, United States, 3Department ofGeography, Faculty of Sciences, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium, 4Global Data Institute (InternationalOrganization for Migration), Berlin, GermanyKEYWORDSmigration, human mobility, climate change, environmental change, immobility, plannedrelocation, displacement, policyEditorial on the Research TopicClimate migration research and policy connections: progress since theForesight ReportThe Foresight report on Migration and Global Environmental Change (Foresight:Migration and Global Environmental Change, 2011) was a first major effort to build theevidence base on the linkages between environmental changes and migration and explorethe policy options to promote adaptive migration, avoid forced displacement and provideprotection for displaced people and “trapped populations.”1This first Research Topic of Frontiers in Climate Mobility sought to revisit the ForesightReport and its recommendations, and to identify key developments and new insights inthis field of research, with a particular emphasis on policy-relevant findings and studies thatexamine policy approaches to addressing climatemobility. A strong example of a study doingexactly this is the article by Dyer and Neef in this Research Topic. They analyze how NewZealand’s policy response to climate-induced migration and displacement in Pacific islandshas evolved over the last 15 years (Dyer and Neef).Foresight MGEC: three lasting policy impactsTwelve years after the publication of the Foresight Report, some achievements withlasting impact are discernible. Here, we highlight three, which continue to hold a directinfluence on policy debates.First, the report helped to attenuate the influence of environmental determinism inacademic and policy debates and generatedmore sophisticated approaches that acknowledgethe complexity of the relations between environmental change and migration. Foresight’sconceptual framework (Figure 1) played a central role in this achievement. The framework1 The preferred term nowadays is “involuntary immobile” (Van Praag, 2021; Yee et al.).Frontiers inClimate 01 frontiersin.orgvan der Geest et al. 10.3389/fclim.2023.1231679FIGURE 1Conceptual of the Foresight Report, showing the drivers of migration and the influence of environmental change. Source: Foresight: Migration andGlobal Environmental Change (2011).emphasizes that environmental change influences migrationpatterns largely indirectly by affecting existing drivers of migration.By acknowledging this complexity, the report helped combat so-called “maximalist” approaches and alarmist predictions of “climaterefugee” crises (Morrissey, 2012; Bettini, 2013; Durand-Delacreet al., 2021).Second, the report highlighted that millions of people will beunable to move away from locations in which they are extremelyvulnerable to environmental change. This led to the birth of anew area of research on “trapped populations” or involuntaryimmobility (Ayeb-Karlsson et al., 2018; Nawrotzki and DeWaard,2018; Zickgraf, 2018). In recent years, new research is also emergingon voluntary immobility, including resistance to planned relocationin the context of climate change (Adams, 2016; Farbotko et al.,2020; Blondin, 2021; Boas et al., 2022). In this Research Topic,Yee et al. examine voluntary immobility in Serua Island, Fiji,where indigenous people resist climate-driven planned relocation.Piggott-McKellar and Vella also look at planned relocation inFiji and Australia. They also express concern about government-enforced planned relocation, and emphasize that people shouldhave the right to refuse. However, with their analysis of arange of relocation schemes across the two counties, they alsoshow that planned relocation can be “a successful adaptationoption if planned well with strong participatory governance”(Piggott-McKellar and Vella).Third, the Foresight Report helped frame migration in thecontext of global environmental change not just as a problemor risk, but also an opportunity. The notion of “migration asadaptation” (Black et al., 2011) has attracted attention from arange of climate mobility scholars (Afifi et al., 2016; Gemenneand Blocher, 2016; McLeman, 2016; Oakes et al., 2020;Vinke et al.,2022). In this Research Topic, Abu et al. look at the relation betweenadaptation capacities and migration intentions in Ghana’s VoltaDelta. They find that people with ecosystem-based livelihoods whoare particularly exposed to climate impacts, are less inclined tomigrate because they lack viable options to improve their lives indestination areas (Abu et al.).The idea that migration can be an effective way to adaptto climate change has also landed well in select policy circles,such as UN’s organization for migration (IOM), and is tosome extent reflected in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderlyand Regular Migration. However, the “migration as adaptation”framing has also been critiqued for putting the burden onvulnerable populations to adapt to changes to the climate thatthey have not caused (Bettini and Gioli, 2016). Also, in mostpolicy circles, particularly at national level, migration continuesto be seen primarily as an adverse effect of climate change andas a security risk (Boas et al., 2019). In this Research Topic,this is clearly shown by Mombauer et al. who analyzed howmigration features in countries’ NAPs and NDCs. They concludethat countries primarily focus on migration as a problem orchallenge, while only few incorporate positive aspects (Mombaueret al.).Key developments since 2011Since the publication of the Foresight Report in 2011, theliterature on environmental change and migration has bourgeoned(for a good overview, see Piguet, 2022), with a strong increase instudies looking at the role of climate variability and change. Herewe highlight some key developments.Frontiers inClimate 02 frontiersin.orgvan der Geest et al. 10.3389/fclim.2023.1231679Climate mobilities: More and more scholars have startedto prefer the term “climate mobility” over “climate migration”.Research on human mobility in the context of climate changerecognizes the multiple ways in which people are mobile.Commonly, scholars distinguish these four types of mobility:migration, displacement, planned relocation and immobility. The“mobilities approach” emphasizes that human mobility should notbe studied as something exceptional. Rather, it sees mobility as“normal” in a highly interconnected world, and therefore climatemobility research should focus on the role of climate hazards inaltering existing mobility patterns (Boas et al., 2019, 2022).Systematic reviews and meta analyses: Following the surgein publications of empirical studies on environmental change andmigration (Piguet, 2022), a significant number of meta analysesand systematic reviews was conducted in the late 2010s (e.g.,van der Land et al., 2018; Borderon et al., 2019; Hoffmannet al., 2020; Šedová et al., 2021). These help to reveal patternsbeyond the unique and context-specific findings of localized casestudies. These review papers find, for example, that climate andenvironmental change are primarily factors in driving migrationfrom rural areas; in low- and middle-income countries; and inagricultural economies. These analyses also tend to find thatenvironmentally-induced human mobility occurs mostly withincountry borders.Sometimes, review papers can also take a narrower perspectiveand look at specific aspects of climate mobility. In this ResearchTopic, for example, Thornton et al. conduct a systematic review ofpolicy documents from Latin America and the Pacific to examineapproaches to address immobility in the context of climate change.They conclude that generally, there is very little policy guidance onthis topic in human rights frameworks, disaster risk reduction andmigration policy, and they recommend more proactive approaches(Thornton et al.).Aspirations and Capabilities: A strong advance in theoryabout migration decision-making has been the “aspirations andcapabilities framework” (Carling and Schewel, 2018; De Haas,2021), which posits that people move (1) when they perceiveit is in their interest to move (aspirations) and (2) when theyare able to do so (capability). While not developed to studyclimate mobility specifically, more and more scholars have startedto use this framework to better understand mobility as wellas immobility in relation to environmental stress and climatechange (Suckall et al., 2017; Van der Land, 2017; Zickgraf, 2021).Vice versa, the uptake of this framework by climate mobilityscholars can enrich the model by enhancing understandingof forced migration and disaster displacement (de Sherbininet al., 2022). To achieve this, a stronger emphasis on people’sneeds to move (alongside their aspirations and capabilities)is required.Cross-cutting themes: As the field of environmentalchange and migration research matured, a range of studiesemerged that examined how environmental change andhuman mobility relate to a number of cross-cuttingthemes, such as health (McMichael, 2020; Issa et al., 2023),conflict (Hermans and Ide, 2019; Thalheimer et al., 2023),habitability (Horton et al., 2021) and gender (Gioli andMilan, 2018; Ayeb-Karlsson, 2020; Evertsen and van der Geest,2020).This is a clear sign that since the publication of the ForesightReport in 2011, environmental and climate mobility has evolvedfrom a niche topic to a mature field of research.Author contributionsThe original idea for this Research Topic came fromKW. AS prepared the call for papers for the ResearchTopic, with inputs from all authors. KG created a firstdraft of this editorial introduction, building on the callfor papers, and the articles published in this ResearchTopic. FG and AS commented on the first draft andprovided additional text, after which KG integrated thecomments and edits, and submitted the final version.All authors contributed to the article and approved thesubmitted version.Conflict of interestThe authors declare that the research was conducted in theabsence of any commercial or financial relationships that could beconstrued as a potential conflict of interest.Publisher’s noteAll claims expressed in this article are solely those of theauthors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliatedorganizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and thereviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, orclaim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed orendorsed by the publisher.Frontiers inClimate 03 frontiersin.orgvan der Geest et al. 10.3389/fclim.2023.1231679ReferencesAdams, H. (2016). Why populations persist: mobility, place attachment and climatechange. Populat. Environ. 37, 429–448. doi: 10.1007/s11111-015-0246-3Afifi, T., Milan, A., Etzold, B., Schraven, B., Rademacher-Schulz, C., Sakdapolrak,P., et al. (2016). Human mobility in response to rainfall variability: opportunities formigration as a successful adaptation strategy in eight case studies. Migrat. Dev. 5,254–274. doi: 10.1080/21632324.2015.1022974Ayeb-Karlsson, S. (2020). ‘I do not like her going to the shelter’: stories on gendereddisaster (im) mobility and wellbeing loss in coastal Bangladesh. Int. J. Disast. RiskReduct. 50, 101904. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101904Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Smith, C. D., and Kniveton, D. (2018). A discursive reviewof the textual use of ‘trapped’in environmental migration studies: the conceptualbirth and troubled teenage years of trapped populations. Ambio 47, 557–573.doi: 10.1007/s13280-017-1007-6Bettini, G. (2013). Climate barbarians at the gate? A critiqueof apocalyptic narratives on ‘climate refugees’. Geoforum 45, 63–72.doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2012.09.009Bettini, G., and Gioli, G. (2016). Waltz with development: insights on thedevelopmentalization of climate-induced migration. Migrat. Dev. 5, 171–189.doi: 10.1080/21632324.2015.1096143Black, R., Bennett, S. R., Thomas, S. M., and Beddington, J. R. (2011). Migration asadaptation. Nature 478, 447–449. doi: 10.1038/478477aBlondin, S. (2021). Staying despite disaster risks: place attachment, voluntaryimmobility and adaptation in Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains. Geoforum 126, 290–301.doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.08.009Boas, I., Farbotko, C., Adams, H., Sterly, H., Bush, S., Van der Geest,K., et al. (2019). Climate migration myths. Nat. Clim. Change 9, 901–903.doi: 10.1038/s41558-019-0633-3Boas, I., Wiegel, H., Farbotko, C., Warner, J., and Sheller, M. (2022). Climatemobilities: migration, im/mobilities and mobility regimes in a changing climate. J.Ethnic Migrat. Stud. 48, 3365–3379. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2022.2066264Borderon, M., Sakdapolrak, P., Muttarak, R., Kebede, E., Pagogna, R., and Sporer,E. (2019). Migration influenced by environmental change in Africa. Demogr. Res. 41,491–544. doi: 10.4054/DemRes.2019.41.18Carling, J., and Schewel, K. (2018). Revisiting aspiration and ability in internationalmigration. J. Ethnic Migrat. Stud. 44, 945–963. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2017.1384146De Haas, H. (2021). A theory of migration: the aspirations-capabilities framework.Compar. Migrat. Stud. 9, 1–35. doi: 10.1186/s40878-020-00210-4de Sherbinin, A., Grace, K., McDermid, S., van der Geest, K., Puma, M. J., andBell, A. (2022). Migration theory in climate mobility research. Front. Clim. 4, 78.doi: 10.3389/fclim.2022.882343Durand-Delacre, D., Bettini, G., Nash, S. L., Sterly, H., Gioli, G., Hut, E., et al. (2021).“Climate migration is about people, not numbers,” in Negotiating Climate Change inCrisis, eds S. Bohm and S. Sullivan (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers), 63–81.Evertsen, K. F., and van der Geest, K. (2020). Gender, environment and migrationin Bangladesh. Clim. Dev. 12, 12–22. doi: 10.1080/17565529.2019.1596059Farbotko, C., Dun, O., Thornton, F., McNamara, K. E., and McMichael, C.(2020). Relocation planning must address voluntary immobility.Nat. Clim. Change 10,702–704. doi: 10.1038/s41558-020-0829-6Foresight: Migration and Global Environmental Change (2011). Final ProjectReport. London: The Government Office for Science.Gemenne, F., and Blocher, J. (2016). “How can migration support adaptation?Different options to test the migration–adaptation nexus,” in Migration, Environmentand Climate Change. Working Paper IOM.Gioli, G., and Milan, A. (2018). “Gender, migration and (global) environmentalchange,” in Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration, eds R.McLeman and F. Gemenne (Abingdon: Routledge), 135–150.Hermans, K., and Ide, T. (2019). Advancing research on climate change, conflict andmigration. DIE ERDE J. Geogr. Soc. Berlin 150, 40–44. doi: 10.12854/erde-2019-411Hoffmann, R., Dimitrova, A., Muttarak, R., Crespo Cuaresma, J., and Peisker,J. (2020). A meta-analysis of country-level studies on environmental change andmigration. Nat. Clim. Change 10, 904–912. doi: 10.1038/s41558-020-0898-6Horton, R. M., de Sherbinin, A., Wrathall, D., and Oppenheimer, M.(2021). Assessing human habitability and migration. Science 372, 1279–1283.doi: 10.1126/science.abi8603Issa, R., Sarsour, A., Cullip, T., Toma, S., Ruyssen, I., and Scheerens, C. (2023). Gapsand opportunities in the climate change, migration and health nexus: insights from aquestionnaire based study of practitioners and researchers. J. Migrat. Health 7, 100171.doi: 10.1016/j.jmh.2023.100171McLeman, R. (2016). “Conclusion: migration as adaptation: conceptual origins,recent developments, and future directions,” in Migration, Risk Management andClimate Change: Evidence and Policy Responses. P. 213–229.McMichael, C. (2020). Human mobility, climate change, and health:unpacking the connections. Lancet Planetary Health 4, e217–e218.doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30125-XMorrissey, J. (2012). Rethinking the ‘debate on environmental refugees’: from‘maximilists and minimalists’ to ‘proponents and critics’. J. Polit. Ecol. 19, 36–49.doi: 10.2458/v19i1.21712Nawrotzki, R. J., and DeWaard, J. (2018). Putting trapped populations into place:climate change and inter-district migration flows in Zambia. Regional Environ. Change18, 533–546. doi: 10.1007/s10113-017-1224-3Oakes, R., Banerjee, S., and Warner, K. (2020). “Human mobility and adaptation toenvironmental change,” inWorld Migration Report, 253–270.Piguet, E. (2022). Linking climate change, environmental degradation, andmigration: an update after 10 years. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Clim. Change 13, e746.doi: 10.1002/wcc.746Šedová, B., Cizmaziová, L., and Cook, A. (2021). A Meta-Analysis of ClimateMigration Literature. CEPA Discussion Papers. Potsdam: Center for EconomicPolicy Analysis.Suckall, N., Fraser, E., and Forster, P. (2017). Reduced migration under climatechange: evidence from Malawi using an aspirations and capabilities framework. Clim.Dev. 9, 298–312. doi: 10.1080/17565529.2016.1149441Thalheimer, L., Schwarz, M. P., and Pretis, F. (2023). Large weather and conflicteffects on internal displacement in Somalia with little evidence of feedback ontoconflict. Global Environ. Change 79, 102641. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102641Van der Land, V. (2017).Migration and Environmental Change in the West AfricanSahel: Why Capabilities and Aspirations Matter. London: Routledge.van der Land, V., Romankiewicz, C., and van der Geest, K. (2018). “Environmentalchange and migration: a review of West African case studies,” in Routledge Handbookof Environmental Displacement and Migration, eds R. McLeman and F. Gemenne(Abingdon: Routledge), 163–177.Van Praag, L. (2021). Can I move or can I stay? Applying a life course perspectiveon immobility when facing gradual environmental changes in Morocco. Climate RiskManage. 31, 100274. doi: 10.1016/j.crm.2021.100274Vinke, K., Rottmann, S., Gornott, C., Zabre, P., Nayna Schwerdtle, P.,and Sauerborn, R. (2022). Is migration an effective adaptation to climate-related agricultural distress in sub-Saharan Africa? Populat. Environ. 43, 319–345.doi: 10.1007/s11111-021-00393-7Zickgraf, C. (2018). “Immobility,” in Routledge Handbook of EnvironmentalDisplacement andMigration, eds R.McLeman and F. Gemenne (Abingdon: Routledge),71–84.Zickgraf, C. (2021). Theorizing (im) mobility in the face of environmental change.Regional Environ. Change 21, 126. doi: 10.1007/s10113-021-01839-2Frontiers inClimate 04 frontiersin.org

Editorial: Climate migration research and policy connections: progress since the Foresight Report

van der Geest, Kees

de Sherbinin, Alex

Gemenne, François

Warner, Koko

Open Repository and Bibliography - Liège

Climate migration research and policy connections: progress since the Foresight Report

https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/304495/1/fclim-05-1231679.pdf

Editorial: Climate migration research and policy connections: progress since the Foresight Report

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Directory of Open Access Journals

Open Repository and Bibliography - Liège