Environmental non-migration: framework, methods, and cases

Abstract

Climate change discourses occasionally describe migration as an adaptation strategy for people at risk (Hunter et al. 2015;Black et al. 2011;Adger et al. 2021). On the other hand, there are also claims suggesting that non-migration can represent an adaptation strategy (Blondin 2021;Pemberton et al. 2021;Mallick et al. 2021) as not all households that face environmental challenges engage in movement (e.g., Adams 2016; Mallick and Schanze 2020). Existing research demonstrates that extreme environmental events aggravate pre-existing vulnerabilities (Adger et al. 2021) and also influence the process through which environmental stress influences migration decisions (Hunter et al. 2021;Khatun et al. 2022). When households do not move in the face of stress (i.e., "non-migration"), it is often assumed that staying in place is the result of a lack of migration options (Mallick and Schanze 2020). Yet such a perspective implies that households would choose to migrate-or send a household member elsewhere-if able. Yet apart from anecdotal evidence, there is little systematic research on the scope, magnitude, and causal mechanisms of non-migration, nor investigation of effective policy and programs in response to household choices. Thus, scholarship on non-migration is needed to facilitate the development of theoretical frameworks, and methodological tools, and understanding of the determinants of non-migration decisions. Such insights are essential for risk management and climate change adaptation planning.This Topical Collection is based on the contributions from the first-ever international conference on "Environmental Non-Migration: Framework, Methods and Cases" held on 19-