Despite confronting severe climatic risks, many people prefer to remain in climate hazard-prone areas rather than migrate. Environmental non-migration behavior, however, has gained relatively little research attention in the field of migration processes. This study aims to unveil the determinants motivating voluntary environmental non-migration decisions in coastal Bangladesh, an area highly exposed to flooding and other climate-related hazards (e.g., soil salinization). Applying a systematic random sampling, we selected 556 household respondents for a questionnaire survey from 14 villages of two coastal districts: Khulna and Satkhira. Applying a mixed method (i.e., both quantitative and qualitative) approach, major empirical results of this study suggest that even though all respondents lived in a similar situation in terms of climatic hazard and exposure, 88% of the respondents reported themselves as voluntary non-migrants. Furthermore, these non-migrants enjoyed higher socioeconomic and sociopsychological advantages and availed more local support from different government and non-government organizations than involuntary non-migrants. Again, mutual assistance, connection with social groups, natural resource access, sense of secured livelihood, stable societal atmosphere, and participation in decision-making in society appeared to build their higher degree of social capital $$({\chi }^{2}\left(4\right)=57.80;p<0.000)$$ ( χ 2 4 = 57.80 ; p < 0.000 ) compared to involuntary non-migrants. All these features lead to a favorable environment that ultimately drove the respondents to become voluntary non-migrants.

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Despite the growing emphasis and global initiatives to ensure safe drinking water and sanitation for all (Sustainable Development Goal 6), households in the coastal area are at risk of growing water stress across the globe. However, little is known about households' adaptation strategies to water stress in the coastal area. This study explores the determinants and impacts of adaptation strategies to household-level water stress (both drinking and non-drinking), considering the behaviors of adopters and non-adopters in the southwestern coastal area of Bangladesh. We applied an endogenous switching regression model by analyzing questionnaire survey datasets (n=502) to estimate the effect of adopting adaptation strategies on household-level water stress in eight saline-prone coastal districts of Bangladesh. Results reveal six commonly-practiced adaptation strategies: reducing vegetable production, reducing livestock production, paying more to access water, increasing time for water collection, preserving water, and using reservoirs to collect water. Determinants such as migration, support from government and non-government agencies, age, gender, literacy, occupation, income, access to tube wells, and distance from drinking water sources play a significant role in adopting adaptation strategies. Results from the endogenous switching regression model denote that adopting all six adaptation strategies appears to significantly reduce household-level water stress. Through counter-factual analysis, results demonstrate that, on average, households that did not adopt adaptation strategies would have encountered less water stress if they had. Therefore, determinants that stimulate adaptation strategies will indirectly reduce household water stress.