The integration in development and humanitarian projects of climate change and migration

1
The integration in development and humanitarian
projects of climate change and migration

• Cecilia Tacoli
• International Institute for Environment and
  Development, London

2
Acting on mitigation, supporting adaptation

• Mitigation is a key responsibility of
  industrialised nations
• Adaptation is more urgent for poor nations and
  poor communities, which are the most vulnerable
  to the impacts of climate change
• Supporting adaptation is a human rights and
  social justice obligation for industrialised
  nations and needs to be funded through grants,
  not loans (as recently suggested for the World
  Banks Adaptation/Climate Resilience Pilot Fund
  at the Bali COP)
• Funding for mitigation and adaptation should be
  on top, not part of, the official development
  assistance levels (0.7 of GDP) pledged by most
  industrialised nations.

3
Migration as a key adaptation strategy

• Migration and mobility are key mechanisms of
  adaptation to inequality in the spatial
  distribution of resources. Together with income
  diversification, they have proved to be effective
  strategies to reduce vulnerability and, in some
  cases, poverty.
• Policies that have attempted to control or limit
  migration have inevitably resulted in increased
  hardship for poor and vulnerable groups while not
  necessarily reducing their movement
• The impact of climate change is likely to affect
  migration in two major ways increasing the
  numbers of people displaced by disasters and
  increasing the number of migrants responding to
  the long-term degradation of environmental
  resources
• Both categories of migrants are more likely to
  move within or across borders rather than from
  poor to rich nations

4
Making migration part of the solution
urbanization and adaptation to gradual climate
change

• Environmental degradation is likely to intensify
  processes of urbanization with people moving out
  at least temporarily from rural areas and
  agriculture.
• Urbanization and rural-urban migration are seen
  as negative processes that increase urban poverty
  and create unmanageable mega-cities.
• But this is not unavoidable, and is more the
  consequence of the limited competence, capacity
  and accountability of local governments, than of
  rural-urban migration.
• With half the worlds population living in urban
  centres and the additional pressure from climate
  change, support to urban people and institutions
  needs to be integrated in development projects

5
Making migration part of the solution response
to disasters and planned resettlement

• Extreme weather events are an increasing cause of
  population movement.
• While people usually return home, how quickly
  they can do so depends on the capacity,
  competence and accountability of local
  institutions especially towards the poor and
  vulnerable groups.
• Planned resettlement may be necessary in an
  increasing number of cases eg due to sea level
  rise. There are many bad experiences of
  resettlement, but also positive ones. The
  difference is in voluntary participation,
  security of rights to land and the long-term
  support of flexible local institutions.

6
In summary what role for development and
humanitarian projects

• Migration is key in adaptation to climate change.
  It needs to be supported, and this in turn
  require major shifts in the perceptions of
  policy-makers and administrators
• Reducing risk and vulnerabilities must be based
  on a strong local knowledge base, and the
  contributions to adaptation of individuals,
  households, community organizations and
  enterprises
• Both development and humanitarian projects need
  to focus on building the competence, capacity and
  accountability of local governments. Without such
  political and institutional mechanisms, funding
  for infrastructure and services are insufficient
  to build adaptive capacity.