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Climate change and migration in the South Pacific region: policy perspectives
Abstract
The aim of this article is to outline some of the key issues and themes discussed at the Institute of Policy Studies symposium in July 2009 on ‘Climate Change and Migration in the South Pacific Region: policy perspectives’. The linkages between climate change, environmental degradation and migration are manifold and not always clearly perceived.
... Myers's (2002) seminal article signposted environmentally driven migration as one of the most significant challenges of the twenty-first century, and later, similar assumptions were made by Christian Aid (Baird et al. 2007), IOM (Brown 2008), and Care International (Warner et al. 2009). Such predictions led to a proliferation of the academic discourse on migration, focused on national and international security, policy frameworks, and human rights (Boncour and Burson 2009). Other studies have focused on vulnerability assessment, risk reduction, adaptation, resettlement, relocation, sustainability, and resilience, considering pre-, during and post-disaster circumstances of climate migration (Bronen 2011;Bronen and Chapin 2013;IDMC 2019;IOM 2021;King et al. 2014). ...
... Climate migrants are identified as a vulnerable group, and a consideration of issues for this group is essential in addressing the goals of the SDGs and SFDRRR. There is a growing body of knowledge that reflects the global relevance of climate migration as a major current and future challenge (Boncour and Burson 2009). Addressing the issues and challenges of this form of migration will improve the survival and certain resettlement rights of climate migrants (Miller 2017). ...
Climatic disasters are displacing millions of people every year across the world. Growing academic attention in recent decades has addressed different dimensions of the nexus between climatic events and human migration. Based on a systematic review approach, this study investigates how climate-induced migration studies are framed in the published literature and identifies key gaps in existing studies. 161 journal articles were systematically selected and reviewed (published between 1990 and 2019). Result shows diverse academic discourses on policies, climate vulnerabilities, adaptation, resilience, conflict, security, and environmental issues across a range of disciplines. It identifies Asia as the most studied area followed by Oceania, illustrating that the greatest focus of research to date has been tropical and subtropical climatic regions. Moreover, this study identifies the impact of climate-induced migration on livelihoods, socio-economic conditions, culture, security, and health of climate-induced migrants. Specifically, this review demonstrates that very little is known about the livelihood outcomes of climate migrants in their international destination and their impacts on host communities. The study offers a research agenda to guide academic endeavors toward addressing current gaps in knowledge, including a pressing need for global and national policies to address climate migration as a significant global challenge.
... In many parts of the world, migration in response to suddenonset events captures more media and scholarly attention than slow-onset events. The latter, however, may cause even more people to leave their homes, at early or more advanced stages of the events (Boncour and Burson, 2009;Gutmann and Field, 2010). In 2016, over 24 million people were displaced in response to sudden-onset events, but exact figures for slow-onset events are lacking (Opitz Sapleton et al., 2013). ...
Environmental changes can result in dramatic increases in human migration as households become unable to adapt to such changes. Addressing environmental migration is a complex puzzle that can become a wicked problem. Despite the growing literature on the nexus between environmental change and migration, the inextricable link between nature and society has made it difficult to establish causal relations between the two. To examine the relationship between environmental change and migration, it is necessary to develop a conceptual model that includes environmental changes as potential causes of rural-urban migration (RUM). Such a model should be built on an enhanced understanding of the different factors that stimulate environmentally induced RUM. This paper proposes such a model, focusing on loss of agricultural land, loss of agricultural productivity and the economic repercussions of these losses. The model is based on the model of Perch-Nielsen et al. but extends this model by incorporating additional factors. In our model, the three leading causes of RUM are climate change, human maladaptive activities, and hydro-climatic disasters (the push factors). In addition, there may be pull factors in the cities. RUM may be counteracted or reduced by governmental policy and individuals' characteristics. The model was applied to Iran. The results show that the model can help to bridge the knowledge gap regarding environmentally induced RUM and may inform policymaking on RUM and related issues, such as environmental management and adaptation to climate change.
... sociaux, économiques et politiques, conjugués à des facteurs d'ordre climatiques ou environnementaux (Piguet, 2008) dont les différentes combinaisons augmenteraient le risque de déracinement pour les plus vulnérables (Oliver-Smith, 2014). Cette approche invite à regarder les causes profondes de la mobilité humaines qui pourraient reposer sur les inégalités de développement entre les régions (Lonergan, 1998 ;Black, 2001), sur d'autres causes ou facteurs structurels, ou encore sur les caractéristiques individuelles et communautaires qui impactent la décision de migrer (Boncour et Burson, 2009 (Lonergan, 1998). 7 Dans le cas des déplacements pouvant être associés aux catastrophes, le lien de causalité est présenté comme étant plus directement associé au facteur climatique, mais pas exclusivement. ...
Chaque année dans le monde, des millions de personnes se retrouvent « déplacées » à l’intérieur de leur pays suite à une catastrophe. Ces déplacements sont souvent envisagés comme des migrations de courte durée, à faible distance et conclus par un retour des populations. Les analyses académiques et politiques dominantes centrent leur attention sur les aspects matériels associés à la survie des déplacés en négligeant les répercussions sur la vie sociale de ces personnes pendant le déplacement. La présente recherche adopte un angle différent et s’interroge sur la manière dont le déplacement temporaire impacte les interactions, les relations et les positions sociales et sur les conséquences que cela entraîne sur l’expérience même du déplacement. En empruntant une approche constructiviste de la théorisation enracinée, cette recherche prend comme point de départ une perspective sociologique des identités sociales pour examiner l’expérience concrète du déplacement des habitants de la commune de Campo de la Cruz, en Colombie, suite à une inondation massive en 2010. L’analyse montre que le déplacement, dans sa configuration temporelle réduite, est un processus qui implique une altération des identités sociales des « déplacés ». La catastrophe détruit le matériel et, avec le déplacement qu’elle cause, elle provoque la déstructuration des rôles et des positions des individus au sein de leurs groupes de référence. Les déplacés arrivent dans les territoires de destination dans le plus grand dénuement tant matériel que social, dépendants d’un système d’aides dans lequel ils sont contraints de s’insérer pour survivre. Dans ce contexte, de nouvelles interactions émergent entre les organismes en charge de distribuer ces aides à l’intérieur des espaces qui deviennent des lieux de survie, les déplacés et les résidents historiques des territoires de destination. Cette recherche s’intéresse en particulier à la manière dont cette nouvelle configuration de relations participe à l’élaboration de « catégories stigmatiques » à l’égard des déplacés et à la manière dont elle engendre une séparation sociale entre les groupes d’acteurs qui reflètent les ressorts des nouveaux rapports de pouvoir dans la nouvelle hiérarchie de la survie et traduisent la condition sociale « liminale » des déplacés. Dans ce panorama, les identités sociales des déplacés se fragmentent, des nouveaux mécanismes d’identification leur sont imposés et des recompositions sociales, défavorables aux déplacés, naissent de la confrontation des logiques informelles et institutionnelles d’organisation de la survie. Enfin, la recherche invite à dépasser la vision classique « humanitaire » et politique qui conçoit la survie des personnes déplacées suite à une catastrophe dans une perspective matérialiste pour adopter une approche « humaniste » qui permette de préserver la dignité des personnes et de garantir leurs droits, bien au-delà de la satisfaction des besoins matériels.
... Migration is more commonly internal, e.g. rural-urban (Boncour and Burson 2009;Stal and Warner 2009;Leighton 2007), and therefore the effect of environmental changes on internal migration needs further investigation. ...
Rural-urban migration is a challenging issue for communities, and is influenced by interactions between numerous push and pull factors. To better understand the interacting drivers of rural-urban migration, the study investigates the factors which influence migration from rural areas in Sistan to Mashhad city in Iran. The investigation was conducted using questionnaires and deep interviews. The results show that the main reason for migration from Sistan to Mashhad is environmental degradation including drought and water scarcity, followed by economic and government operational plans for supporting rural people. However, some people stay in Sistan in spite of the current unpleasant environmental and economic conditions. The results demonstrated cultural and social factors as the main motivations for people remaining in villages. Since the factors could be more challenging under future global warming, adaptive participatory governance is needed to link civil society, authorities, scientists, and the land to develop nature-based and rural-urban migration solutions.
... This particularly owes Loss and damage due to slow-onset processes | 29 to exacerbation of wave-driven flooding by SLR, compromising soil fertility and the integrity of freshwater lenses (ibid.). Kiribati, which is composed entirely of atolls, is one of the states at risk of being entirely inundated by the century's end (Boncour/Burson 2010). Already, well before the islands are completely submerged, SLR impacts are increasing socio-economic and environmental problems, and threaten to render Kiribati uninhabitable. ...
In addition to amplifying extreme weather events, climate change also causes or intensifies slow-onset processes such as sea-level rise, desertification, biodiversity loss or permafrost thaw. Both types of climate change impacts cause loss and damage, impede the enjoyment of human rights and can be drivers for human mobility. In contrast to extreme weather events, dealing with loss and damage caused by slow-onset processes in the context of climate change is still neglected, both at the national and international level.
The publication series "Addressing Loss and Damage from Slow-Onset Processes" responds to this challenge and aims to foster awareness of the urgency to act in this area and provide input for processes at the national and international levels. This is with the aim of finding tangible and feasible solutions to address loss and damage from slow-onset processes.
The first part of the series provides an introduction to the topic, presents slow-onset processes such as sea-level rise in detail, and analyzes the resulting economic and non-economic loss and damage. It concludes with insights into the case of losses and damages in Senegal due to sea level rise.
The second part (publication in spring 2021) will address the status quo, challenges and gaps in addressing loss and damage from slow-onset processes at the national and international levels.
... Entonces, si las consecuencias adversas del cambio climático suponen una violación a las reglas internacionales de los derechos humanos, los Estados, en cumplimiento con sus obligaciones internacionales, tienen el deber de adoptar normas jurídicas para prevenir, minimizar y reparar los daños causados. Asimismo, un enfoque basado en los derechos humanos debe formar parte de cualquier respuesta política que intente abordar los diferentes tipos de migración climática (Boncour y Burson, 2010). ...
Los impactos del cambio climático afectan, directa e indirectamente, a los patrones de movi-lidad humana. De hecho, existen ya ejemplos de migraciones climáticas alrededor de todo el planeta. Las migraciones climáticas transfronterizas son especialmente relevantes, pues uno de los problemas más graves a los que se enfrentan las personas que huyen de sus países a causa del cambio climático, junto con otros motivos, es el escaso reconocimiento de su situación por el derecho internacional y, en consecuencia, la falta de protección jurídica. Ante este vacío, en el presente artículo se analiza la posible aplicación del derecho internacional de los * La presente obra se ha elaborado en el marco del PROYECTO DE I+D: "La constitución climática global: gobernanza y Derecho en un contexto complejo" (CONCLIMA-DER2016-80011-P), (MINECO/FEDER,
This perspective article examines the complex issues surrounding water and sanitation for climate migrants during the current climate crisis. To deepen the understanding of climate-induced migration, the study seeks to identify and analyze a critical knowledge gap related to climate migrants. This involves defining who climate migrants are, understanding their migration patterns, and identifying the specific challenges they face, particularly concerning their fundamental human rights to water and sanitation. Environmental and anthropogenic disasters, expropriation, and gradual environmental deterioration all contribute to the intricate interplay that leads to such a state of affairs. It highlights the critical importance of a precise definition of climate migrants and calls for robust theoretical and epistemological contributions to deepen our understanding of this issue.
Furthermore, extreme weather events can cause frequent and permanent displacement, which increases pressure on water and sanitation systems. Encouraging reflection, the article discusses how knowledge gained can guide
government and civil society actions to mitigate adversities climate migrants face and ensure human dignity through universal access to water and sanitation. These challenges are set to intensify in the coming decades, making this a pressing matter for all.
Motivation
This research brings a Pacific Islands‐centred perspective into the discussion of foreign aid and climate mobility. The issue of climate‐related migration is a crucial concern in Oceania as climate change is increasingly affecting Pacific islanders. In this context, the Pacific Islands are typically seen as migrant‐sending countries to places outside of the region. Inter‐Pacific Islands migration (IPIM) is barely recognized.
Purpose
Should foreign aid consider climate‐related IPIM? Focusing on Fiji, this article (1) assesses current knowledge on migration between the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) and Fiji's role therein; (2) maps aid‐funded climate mobility initiatives in the Pacific Islands; and (3) explores Fiji's national polices and local Fijian perspectives on regional climate‐related immigration to Fiji.
Methods and approach
This study draws on a combination of statistical analysis, policy document analysis, expert interviews, and semi‐structured interviews and an in‐depth online survey involving local Fijians. Additionally, it incorporates the author's personal work experience as a Pacific Islander and a Fijian traversing climate mobility aid and policy spaces concerning Oceania.
Findings
Current aid policies and initiatives addressing climate mobility have insufficiently considered IPIM. Migration from other PICTs to Fiji is significant, both in numbers and in terms of how it is affecting and potentially will affect local Fijians. Neither research, nor Fiji's national policies, nor donors have sufficiently considered this issue to date.
Policy implications
Aid policies and initiatives targeting climate‐related migration in PICTs need to be refocused to give more attention to IPIM. Donors must expand their support to migrant‐receiving communities in PICTs such as Fiji. By recognising and investing in IPIM, donors can foster mutual benefits for Fiji, other PICTs, and donor countries.
Sustainability of climate change adaptation is currently the core point in climate-vulnerable countries like Bangladesh. The policies in adaptation interventions like water resources management and associated disaster risk reduction promoted by the government (Go) in Bangladesh are supposed to overcome the climate change effects and ensure local communities’ sustainability. However, their effectiveness in the context of long term success was questionable as local people failed to eradicate their sufferings. Given the prominence of global governance lately, this question gets greater attention, and the neoliberal perspective emphasizes GO and NGO (Non-Government Organization) partnership. Based on the importance of this partnership, this paper explores the performances of GO-NGOs partnership by using the data of the research project, DECCMA (DEltas, vulnerability, and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation). The findings argue that despite a significant level of success in the partnership in climate change adaptation, local communities still encounter a major sustainability concern because of top-down policy practices. This concern can be addressed under the framework of adaptation governance.
Dealing with environmental migration is a complex problem that may transform into a wicked problem. To investigate the environment-migration nexus, it is necessary to develop a conceptual model that considers the complexity of environmental changes as a cause of rural-urban migration (RUM). This paper provides such a model, focusing on the decline of agricultural lands and products and relevant economic consequences. It links the three leading “push factors” of RUM—climate change, human mal-activities, and hydro-climatic disasters— and migration. Also, it incorporates the pull factors in cities and intervening factors, such as governmental plans and individuals’ characteristics. The model contributes to bridging the knowledge gap on the effects of migration policymaking on the one hand and environmental and climate change on the other hand. It increases understanding of the full range of human responses to environmental and climate change and can be used for policymaking through sustainable management plans.
This chapter reviews the major changes in immigration policy in New Zealand between the 1996 election, when there was a strong anti-Asian migration sentiment expressed for the first time since the major review and reform of immigration policy in 1986, and a further major review of immigration policy in 2003. During the period under review there was a major government-sponsored Population Conference (1997), a sharp but short-lived recession and associated heavy net emigration of New Zealanders (1999-2001), a major review by Australia of the welfare entitlements of New Zealanders who moved across the Tasman Sea to work and live under the terms of the trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, and the entrenchment of a residence programme that prioritised skilled migrants (60 percent) and imposed increasing restrictions on migration via family sponsorship.
The attached paper also includes Chapter 2 in the same volume by Bedford, Lidgard and Ho on the arrivals and departures during the period covered by the policy review (pages 44-69)
This thesis addresses an issue that was was attracting considerable attention amongst senior officials in the colonial administrations of low-lying groups of coral atolls and reef islands in the central Pacific in the 1960s -- the issue of rapid population growth in islands with limited potential for economic development. The policy of resettling sections of communities from atolls and reef islands that the colonial administration considered were experiencing "land hunger" on either uninhabited islands within the colony, or resettling entire communities overseas, had been regarded as a short-term solution to pressure of population growth in parts of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony since the late 1930s. This thesis traces the development of resettlement as a solution to economic and social problems in the Colony. It contains extensive appendices reviewing unpublished correspondence on a variety of resettlement schemes within and outside the Colony between the late 1930s and the early 1960s.
This article focuses on international migration occurring as a result of environmental changes and processes. It briefly reviews attempts to conceptualize environment-related migration and then considers the extent to which environmental factors have been and may be significant in initiating migration. Following is an examination of migration as an independent variable in the migration-environment relationship. Finally, ethical and policy dimensions are addressed.
For too long non-Western indigenous researchers have been limited in their research because of the “scholarship” attached to ethnocentric and culturally insensitive methodological frameworks. This paper highlights the very rich experiences of the author’s alternative methodology in the Samoan context, and argues the need for the world of Western academia to acknowledge “other” cultures’ perception of scholarship and knowledge. It focuses on the necessity for both non-indigenous and indigenous researchers to take into consideration the culture of participants, and to incorporate their culture into the methodological framework and written text.
Human transformation of the environment is a significant cause of the emergence, continuation and escalation of conflicts between collective actors in economically emerging and politically unstable regions. Environmentally caused armed conflicts are manifestations of abortive socio-economic and political development. At the same time, the social and political outcomes of underdevelopment that can be traced to environmental degradation and resource overexploitation have become an intra- and inter-state security problem. Developmental and security dilemmas thus intertwine to become a complex of problems giving rise to environmentally conditioned armed regional conflicts of differing intensity and form. But apocalyptic scenarios of environmental disasters or alarming prognoses of global environmental wars are not tenable. Environmentally caused conflicts escalate across the threshold of violence only under certain socio-political conditions.
The increase in the number of States in the 20th century has not abated in recent years. The independence of many small territories comprising the 'residue' of the European colonial empires alone accounts for a major increase in States since 1979, while the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the USSR in the early 1990s further augmented the ranks. With these developments, the practice of States and international organisations has developed by substantial measure in respect of self-determination, secession, succession, recognition, de-colonisation, and several other fields. This book discusses the relation between statehood and recognition; the criteria for statehood, especially in view of evolving standards of democracy and human rights; and the application of such criteria in international organisations and between States. Combining a general argument as to the normative significance of statehood with analysis of numerous specific cases, this second edition gives an account of the developments which have led to the birth of so many new States.
