Novel insights on local institutions and climate migration

In studies of migration in climate change affected areas, migration is often approached as being a direct consequence of climate change. In the new research article “Shaping spaces: governance and climate-related mobility in Ethiopia” Senior Researcher Neil Webster analyses other factors at play, especially the role of government and other institutions in the local space where households take decisions as they face the effects of slow-onset climate change.

The article draws on data collected in Ethiopia as part of the Governing Climate Mobility research programme, a cooperation between DIIS and research partners in Ethiopia and Ghana. It argues for a more nuanced approach to mobility practices in which the role of government and other institutions, formal and informal, can point to ways for understanding migration and mobility generally as not being a problem, but as a practice to be managed and incorporated into policies for climate change adaptation. In so doing, the article challenges the approach of many international organizations and NGOs for whom climate change is seen as the cause of migration and offers valuable insights for policy and practice.