Migration as Adaptation?

Kira Vinke,Roman Hoffmann,Himani Upadhyay,Julia Blocher,Jonas Bergmann

doi:10.1093/migration/mnaa029

Abstract

AbstractThe discourse on climate change and migration has shifted from labelling migration merely as a consequence of climate impacts, to describing it as a form of human adaptation. This article explores the adaptation framing of the climate change and migration nexus and highlights its shortcomings and advantages. While for some groups, under certain circumstances migration can be an effective form of adaptation, for others it leads to increased vulnerabilities and a poverty spiral, reducing their adaptive capacities. Non-economic losses connected to a change of place further challenge the notion of successful adaptation. Even when migration improves the situation of a household, it may conceal the lack of action on climate change adaptation from national governments or the international community. Given the growing body of evidence on the diverse circumstances and outcomes of migration in the context of climate change, we distinguish between reactive and proactive migration and argue for a precise differentiation in the academic debate.

Highlights

Projections of climate impacts show that some areas that currently provide livelihoods to subsistence farmers, fishers, or urban dwellers could become uninhabitable in the future
In our contribution to this colloquium, we critically explore how the notion of migration as adaptation evolved, what empirical findings tell us, and in which contexts it matters whether migration is framed as adaptation or as a mere response to survive mounting climate impacts
Conceptual and terminological debates around climate change adaptation and migration are still vivid in academic circles

Summary

Introduction

Projections of climate impacts show that some areas that currently provide livelihoods to subsistence farmers, fishers, or urban dwellers could become uninhabitable in the future. In part to recognize migration can serve other ends, the notion of migration as adaptation emerged in the academic literature, highlighting the positive potential of migration to diversify livelihoods. We emphasize that migration does not necessarily lead to increased adaptive capacities for households in all contexts but can have detrimental consequences, leading to increased impoverishment and deepened vulnerabilities

The evolvement of the ‘migration as adaptation’

Conclusion: beyond semantics