Building Resilience, Managing Risks & Enhancing Adaptive Capacity in the context of Environmental (Im)mobilities

What does ‘building resilience’ against the compounding impacts of climate change and forced displacement really mean? How should resilience-building efforts consider the adaptive capacity of those who move and those who stay differently? How are terms like ‘risk’ and ‘resilience’ understood by respective and local communities and by what standards do we measure them? When problematising and responding to environmental (im)mobilities, how should we strive to understand the relationship between mitigation, adaptation, sustainable development, disaster risk planning and management and Loss and Damage? How should policymakers conceive of this nexus to develop effective prevention and responsive frameworks??

This week, participants of the International School on Climate Mobilities (ISCM) explored these questions and more, engaging with the Week 6 theme: Building Resilience in the Context of Environmental (Im)mobilities: Mitigating Risks, Enhancing Adaptive Capacity and Addressing Loss and Damage.?

ISCM Week 6 Summary?

Our lecture this week included enlightening presentations from Dr. Nicodemus Nyandiko , Prof. Idowu Jola Ajibade, PhD and Dr. Annah Piggott-McKellar . Drawing on numerous case studies, from Nigeria and the Philippines to Fiji, our visiting experts unpacked typologies of climate-related (im)mobilities, with a focus on planned relocation, and begged questions around the challenges and opportunities of enhancing resilience and well-being through mitigation, adaptation and resilience-building measures. Building on discussions in our lecture this week, the ISCM cohort dove deeper into these topics through seminars, facilitated by visiting convenors, Dr. Laura Basco Carrera, PhD , Mr. Lukmon Akintola and Mr. Manuel Marques Pereira .

Adaptation measures are falling short?

Presenting a variety of typologies of climate-related mobility, Dr. Nyandiko offered distinctions between disaster displacement, labour migration, transhumance amongst pastoralist communities and planned relocation, noting the different roles that climate stressors such as sea level rise, desertification, disasters, heat waves, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss play in influencing different modalities of mobility and displacement. ?

He provided an overview of the different actors involved in accelerating and sustaining adaptation measures, including the UNFCCC, governments, business and private sector, civil societies and impacted communities, noting the inequities and lack of integration of particularly vulnerable groups, such as persons living in poverty, women, Indigenous and elderly people within existing adaptation frameworks. ?

Dr. Nyandiko argued that current policy frameworks and actions on adaptation are insufficient in the context of projected global warming above 1.5°C, noting that the effectiveness of climate mobility as an adaptation measure to support sustainable development will decrease with increasing warming across the globe. Alternatively, he advocated for an inclusive, equitable approach to integrating mitigation, disaster risk reduction and adaptation to advance long-term sustainable development and promote opportunities for positive outcomes of human mobility on a warming planet. ?

Enhancing well-being through planned relocation? ?

Building on our discussions, Dr. Piggot-McKellar zoomed into planned relocation in the context of climate change, highlighting Bower and Weerasinghe (2021) definition that characterizes planned relocation as 1) a (often) state-led or externally supported process; through which 2) groups of people are moved and settled in a discernible destination site; is 3) climate-related when a climate-related factor is a ‘primary’ driver of movement; 4) occurs almost exclusively within national borders and usually over relatively short distance; and 5) is intended to be permanent. ?

Drawing on numerous case studies from her work in Fiji that have taken the forms of full, partial, incremental or ad hoc community relocation, Dr. Piggot-McKellar introduced her theorizing of the immobility—relocation continuum , speaking to experiences of ‘trapped populations’ or involuntary immobility due to restricted relocation options in some instances and voluntary immobility in others. ?

Provoking the cohort to consider what ‘success’ might look like – and who may or may not be defining it in the context of community-based planned relocation, Dr. Piggot-McKellar posed the critical question: does planned relocation enhance people’s wellbeing and build resilience? Together, we examined different and intersecting pillars of well-being, including health, material, place, self and social dimensions and Dr. Piggot-McKellar made the case for broader consideration of wellbeing dimensions in planning and relocation processes, noting the importance measuring outcomes by examining well-being amongst diverse community members who relocate over time, the loss and trade-offs they endure to reduce their exposure to risks and adapt. ?

Who loses and who adapts in an unjust climate? ?

Prof. Ajibade invited us to consider climate mobility through the lens of justice and equity, provoking the crucial questions: resilience for whom? Through which strategies? in the midst of uneven vulnerabilities, climate action and migration policies that often contribute to the perpetuation of vulnerabilities. She shined light on extractive violence and the dispossession and displacement that too-often results from climate adaptation and so-called resilience projects, advocating for more awareness and equitable action to be taken to address how adaptation for some can lead to grave consequences for many. Speaking to the triple jeopardy of neocolonialism, capitalism and climate change, Prof. Ajibade introduced the concept of the Necropolitics of climate change, challenging us to think about underlying structural forms of violence that are (re)produced when adaptation and risk management measures fail to place justice, well-being and self-determination at their centres. Prof. Ajibade’s presentation further offered a few key messages: 1) climate mobilities will increase on a warming planet; 2) resilience doesn’t happen in a vacuum; 3) pro-poor mobility policies are urgently needed; and 4) our task is to identify sites and levers for transformation to address root causes and reduce vulnerabilities, manage risks and enhance adaptive capacity in the face of human-caused environmental change, whether people move or stay.?

Managing Risks and Enhancing Adaptive Capacities?

The two seminars focused on highlighting elements that support countries and communities in managing risks as well as enhancing adaptive capacities.?The first seminar hosted by Dr. Carrera and Mr. Akintola from the Global Centre for Climate Mobility presented their findings from modelling exercises conducted under the Africa Climate Mobility Initiative as well as the Greater Caribbean Climate Mobility Initiative , which was built upon the Groundswell Report published by the World Bank. With examples from Botswana and Tuvalu, the hosts also engaged with our participants to discuss the ‘Toolbox for Building Resilience in the context of Climate Mobility’, stressing upon the need of research and data, policy design and advocacy, and stakeholder engagement and partnerships to address issues related to climate mobility. ?

The second seminar hosted by Mr. Pereira of IOM - UN Migration , highlighted the need to develop solutions for the people who might move, people who are currently moving and people who have already moved due to the impacts of climate change. Loss and Damage took centre stage in discussions as Manuel stressed upon the need to identify and address economic and non-economic losses associated with climate mobility. Using examples from Brazil, Philippines and Pakistan, Manuel emphasized on addressing root causes of climate mobility by strengthening resilience and building the capacity of governments to anticipate and respond to climate-related disasters. This can be done by enhancing early warning systems, promoting anticipatory action, informing preparedness efforts especially by focusing on operational preparedness and focusing on resilience building and adaptation planning. ?

Here are some of our key takeaways from the week:???

Key Takeaways?

1. Reducing exposure to climate risks, managing risks and enhancing adaptative capacity are crucial to ensure positive outcomes for mobility, planned relocation and immobility?

It is necessary to not only manage risks but also enhance adaptive capacities of communities and governments by fostering diaspora engagement, investing in the governance of disaster displacement and supporting the development of skills of people who may move or may choose to stay.?

2. Humanitarian assistance in the context of climate mobility has a long way to go ?

Humanitarian assistance must be complemented by support in reconstruction and by providing financial and technical support to build capacities of governments and affected communities. Additionally, research and data must be made available to the relevant stakeholders that enables timely response and minimisation of losses.?

3. For planned relocation to serve as a viable adaptation and resilience-building strategy, it must be community-led ?

Tensions between communities who relocate, those who stay and the actors who facilitate mobility are inevitable. Losses and trade-offs may be inevitable, making it even more important that planned relocation efforts place well-being and self-determination at the centre.?

Lauren Grant and Aryan Bajpai?

The ISCM is an educational initiative, co-hosted by Earth Refuge and SOAS University of London that brings scholars, academics, practitioners and change-makers together with 40+ visiting experts for a six-week online course to unpack climate-related (im)mobilities through the lenses of decolonial, feminist and critical environmental justice.??

Guided by the vision of a more resilient, just and sustainable world for all, the ISCM offers emerging leaders a platform to engage in knowledge and idea exchange to advance timely, creative, cross-sectoral solutions to the climate change, environmental in/justice and (im)mobilities nexus.??

Learn more about the ISCM .?

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