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The 2010 meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognized mobility as a form of adaptation to climate change in the form of migration, displacement, and planned relocations. While considerable work has been done on both migration and displacement, much less is known about how planned relocations will be used to adapt to the effects of climate change. This article examines some of the existing literature on relocations carried out in other contexts, such as development projects and disasters, and stresses the need for clarity of concepts and terminology. For example, it is presently unclear whether the term "relocation" applies only to the physical movement of people or also includes "resettlement" in the form of assistance to secure housing, restore livelihoods, and ensure access to services. Are evacuations in the aftermath of disasters a form of relocation? The article then illustrates some of the lessons learned from past experiences with relocations and concludes by highlighting present efforts to provide guidance for those who will be faced with planning relocations due to future climate effects.
Climate change will lead people to move as the areas where they live become inhabitable. Some will leave-indeed, some are already leaving-because they see the handwriting on the wall and choose to migrate before they are forced to do so. The government of Kiribati has developed an innovative "migration with dignity" program to encourage its citizens to prepare by acquiring skills that will enable them to be sought-after migrants when the waters rise, rather than victims asking for charity.1 Others will be forced to leave their communities due to changes in habitat brought about by either slow- or rapid-onset disasters, such as drought or floods. Still others will depend on their governments to relocate them when the time comes. While a body of research is evolving on climate change-induced migration and displacement, much less is known about this third type of population movement: relocations. This short article explores some of the literature on relocations, highlights some of the vexing definitional and conceptual issues, and reports on efforts to provide guidance to governments and others who may be involved in future climate change-induced relocations.
Warming temperatures, rising sea levels, increased...