The Subjective Climate Migrant: Climate Perceptions, Their Determinants, and Relationship to Migration in Cambodia

Abstract

This article examines the factors shaping the perception of climate change and the relationship between climate change perception and migration. Drawing on a 691-case survey of climate perceptions in Cambodia, it explores three dimensions of climate change perception. The first is the relationship of climate change perceptions to space, geography, and scale. Second is the influence of livelihoods to climate change perceptions, and third is the relationship of climate perceptions to migration. The results show that perceptions of climate change are not significantly influenced by spatial distance, meaning that divergent or even opposite climate perceptions might coexist within a relatively small geographical area. The data, however, show that climate perceptions are significantly influenced by both engagement in certain primary livelihoods and contextually specified socioeconomic marginality. Despite this subjectivity of climate perceptions, a strong, statistically significant relationship exists between climate change perception and the prevalence of migrants in the household. Overarchingly, the article challenges efforts to infer direct linkages between climate data and human behavior, arguing instead for a more subjectively attuned understanding of the impacts of climate change on migration, to account for the multiple factors that influence perceptions of and responses to climate change.