Climate-linked mobility

The document examines the nexus between climate change, human mobility, and development in Africa, highlighting that while mobility can be a strategic adaptation tool, current funding and policy frameworks are inadequate. It identifies significant barriers, including a bias toward mitigation over adaptation, a lack of institutional knowledge, and the politicization of migration. The brief recommends that development actors and national governments mainstream climate-linked mobility across sectors and adopt a diverse range of financial instruments to support people who are staying, moving, or on the move.

• Climate change is a major driver of migration in Africa, with projections suggesting that if global temperatures rise by 1.7°C, between 17 and 40 million people in sub-Saharan Africa could migrate internally by 2050; this could increase to 56–86 million if temperatures rise by 2.5°C.
• Climate-related disasters result in significant economic losses for Africa, costing the continent up to US$15 billion annually and reducing GDP per capita growth by 5% to 15%.
• Adaptation financing in Africa is insufficient and biased toward mitigation. A gap of US$579 billion in adaptation funding is projected until 2030, and in 2019 and 2020, only 39% (approximately US$11.4 billion) of the average annual total climate finance was allocated to adaptation, with most provided as debt instruments.
• There is a critical lack of institutional knowledge and policy integration, as development funders and actors rarely overlap their work on climate action and mobility. Furthermore, most existing adaptation finance frameworks do not explicitly reference climate-linked mobility, which limits large-scale financial action.
• Climate-linked mobility can either support or hinder development depending on its nature: safe, voluntary, and orderly movement can enhance development through remittances and skills exchange, whereas unmanaged and forced movement poses a threat to sustainable development.
• Political barriers, including the framing of migration as a security threat or burden and the rise of anti-migrant agendas and xenophobic rhetoric in some African regions, deter policymakers and funders from treating mobility as a legitimate adaptation strategy.

APA

Mbiyozo, A.-N., & Monyani, M. (2023). Climate-linked mobility. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/pb-182_1.pdf

Chicago

Mbiyozo, Aimée-Noël, and Margaret Monyani. Climate-linked mobility. Institute for Security Studies, 2023. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/pb-182_1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mbiyozo |first1=Aimée-Noël |last2=Monyani |first2=Margaret |title=Climate-linked mobility |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=2023 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/pb-182_1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mbiyozo2023climatelinked, author = {Mbiyozo, Aimée-Noël and Monyani, Margaret}, title = {{Climate-linked mobility}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2023}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/pb-182_1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }