Climate Change and Migration: An Asian Perspective

The Asian Development Bank has recently published a report on the effects of climate change on migration in and from the continent. Although migration need not necessarily be a security concern, people can be propelled to move for reasons of personal safety, such as extreme weather events, or livelihood insecurity caused by long-term land degradation or river salination. This report provides a useful perspective on climate change, representing the conclusions drawn by an organisation from the region most likely to suffer the harshest consequences. The following is taken from the introduction. To read the full report, click here

 

Addressing Climate Change and Migration in Asia and the Pacific

This report concludes an Asian Development Bank (ADB) project initiated in 2010 to develop policy responses to climate-induced migration in Asia and the Pacific. It is one of a series of ADB publications shedding light on the forecasted impacts of climate change on the countries and people of Asia and the Pacific. The report examines how climate change will affect migration patterns in Asia and the Pacific, and identifies various policy interventions and funding vehicles that can help manage the emerging phenomenon of climate-induced migration.

The displacement of people due to environmental events has received increased attention in recent years, yet much uncertainty remains about the way populations will actually react to long-term environmental change. The relationship between climate change and migration flows is often thought to be of a deterministic nature, where all populations living in regions affected by climate change would be forced to relocate. Many empirical studies show, however, that this relationship is far more complex, and is compounded by a wide range of social, economic, and political factors (Foresight 2011; Jäger et al. 2009).

More than two decades ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that “one of the gravest effects of climate change may be those on human migration” (McTegart, Sheldon, and Griffiths 1990). Today, as the effects of climate change intensify, action is needed in two different directions. Mitigation of greenhouse gases needs to remain a priority, as it is the only way the challenge of climate change can be tackled at source. At the same time, it is important to recognize that some impacts of climate change are already happening, and will become more pronounced in the future.

Environmental changes in general, and those associated with climate change in particular, are increasingly recognized as growing drivers of migration across the world. Because of the unavoidability of these impacts, mitigation alone will not suffice to fight climate change; it needs to be complemented by adaptation measures. Adaptation seeks to alleviate the impacts of climate change by increasing the resilience of people and communities to these impacts. Though mitigation and adaptation measures once used to be seen as two possible alternatives, it is now recognized that both will need to be implemented in order to fight climate change.

In Asia and the Pacific, large numbers of people are displaced every year due to floods, droughts, soil degradation, typhoons, and cyclones. Poor people suffer a disproportionate share of deaths, displacement, and damage associated with such events. Forced by poverty to inhabit the low-lying coastal deltas, river banks, flood plains, steep slopes, and degraded urban environments where the impact is most severe, they are least able to rebuild when their homes and communities are battered by extreme weather. Though the region is expected to be profoundly impacted by climate change in the coming decades, it is also expected to undergo other significant social, political, and economic transformations. Thus, migration behaviors are likely to be influenced by this wide range of transformations, ranging from climate change to cheaper travel. Public policies, including adaptation strategies and migration management, will also play a determining role in the nature and extent of the movement of people.

This report considers long-term environmental change as a growing driver of migration. Climate change will accentuate the impact of the environment on human displacement. Migration flows associated with the environment will be intertwined with broader migration dynamics, and therefore should not be considered in isolation. Understanding environmental migration as part of a global transformation process constitutes a major ambition of this work, as well as a necessary condition for sound migration and adaptation policies.

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