Local Expert Perceptions of Migration as a Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh

Robert Stojanov,Ilan Kelman,Akm Ullah,David Procházka,Klára Blahůtová,Barbora Duží

doi:10.3390/su8121223

Abstract

People have long migrated for many reasons, often with a combination of forced and voluntary reasons combining to push them away from current situations and to pull them towards new situations. Bangladesh is one example where environmental changes have long been amongst the multitude of reasons for migrating, with contemporary climate change suggested as a major impetus towards more migration. This paper examines local expert perceptions of migration as a climate change adaptation strategy for Bangladeshis. Seventeen in-depth interviews were conducted with local experts in Bangladesh and Assam (India) on environmental change and migration to understand the perspectives of those with formal education and expert-related jobs who come from the areas being directly affected by Bangladeshi migration. Findings show that local experts consider that migration is used and will be used for climate change adaptation in Bangladesh, but migration is not solely for climate change adaptation, instead interweaving with all other factors influencing migration-related decisions.

Highlights

Over the last few decades, the interplay between climate change and human movement has received attention from academia, policy-makers, and researchers [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
Bangladesh is one example where environmental changes have long been amongst the multitude of reasons for migrating, with contemporary climate change suggested as a major impetus towards more migration
Seventeen in-depth interviews were conducted with local experts in Bangladesh and Assam (India) on environmental change and migration to understand the perspectives of those with formal education and expert-related jobs who come from the areas being directly affected by Bangladeshi migration

Summary

Introduction

Over the last few decades, the interplay between climate change and human movement has received attention from academia, policy-makers, and researchers [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. An example could be sea-level rise inundating low-lying coastal zones including urban areas In addition to such direct effects, climate change could affect migration indirectly, perhaps through affecting economic drivers of migration (e.g., crops, livestock, and fisheries) and political drivers of migration (e.g., conflict, conflict reduction, and choices on where to provide services, such as health and education). These influences on migration are for both choosing to migrate and choosing not to migrate [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]

Methods

Results

Conclusion