Climate change, migration and justice

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) examines the complex nexus of climate change, migration, and justice. It argues that climate change acts as a risk multiplier that interacts with socio-economic and political factors rather than being a sole driver of migration. The document identifies eight key challenges—including the oversimplification of the climate-conflict-migration link, the risks of instrumentalizing migration as adaptation, and the impacts of slow-onset events—and proposes interdisciplinary, rights-based solutions. SEI highlights its strengths in analyzing transboundary climate impacts, conducting grounded comparative research to shift power dynamics, and fostering global cooperation for sustainable livelihoods through tools like AidAtlas and Trase.

• Climate change rarely acts as the sole driver of migration; instead, it interacts with socio-economic, cultural, and political factors, often exacerbating existing pressures on traditional migration drivers.
• Simplistic narratives that directly link climate change to violent conflict can lead to restrictive, securitized policies that criminalize asylum and border entrenchment rather than supporting inclusive adaptation.
• While migration can be a viable adaptation strategy to diversify income and improve resilience, it risks being instrumentalized for economic gain, potentially neglecting protection gaps and social risks for the most vulnerable.
• Immobility is a critical but often overlooked dimension of climate mobility, where systemic inequalities leave the most vulnerable populations unable to move out of harm's way.
• Slow-onset events, such as sea-level rise and desertification, cause profound long-term demographic shifts but receive less policy attention than sudden-onset disasters.
• Inequitable natural resource management and large-scale development projects, such as hydropower dams and biofuel plantations, compound climate risks and increase displacement for marginalized and Indigenous communities.
• Climate-related migration creates intergenerational burdens, where parental migration for income diversification often leaves children and elderly caregivers with increased emotional stress and caregiving responsibilities.
• Current climate mobility projections, such as claims of '1 billion climate refugees by 2050', often lack methodological rigor and are used to justify restrictive border controls.
• There is a significant Global North bias in climate migration research; although studies focus on the Global South, they are predominantly led and funded by Northern institutions, marginalizing Southern scholars and local voices.
• Rapid urbanization in developing countries often leads migrants to informal settlements and slums that lack the infrastructure to withstand climate events like floods and heatwaves.

APA

Vigil, S., Steiner, C., Kim, D., Lutta, A., Cardenas, M., Parviainen, J., & Beaussart, R. (2025). Climate change, migration and justice. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/climate-migration-justice-pathways-sei2025-008.pdf

Chicago

Vigil, Sara, Clare Steiner, Dayoon Kim, Alphayo Lutta, Mario Cardenas, Janne Parviainen, and Raphaelle Beaussart. Climate change, migration and justice. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2025. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/climate-migration-justice-pathways-sei2025-008.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{vigil2025climate, author = {Vigil, Sara and Steiner, Clare and Kim, Dayoon and Lutta, Alphayo and Cardenas, Mario and Parviainen, Janne and Beaussart, Raphaelle}, title = {{Climate change, migration and justice}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/climate-migration-justice-pathways-sei2025-008.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }