Abstract
The relationship between climate change and human migration is a long-standing phenomenon. Locations with favourable climatic conditions have always influenced the decisions of people to settle in a particular environment. Similarly, any adverse effects of a changing climate and related disasters, including sea-level rise, floods, and cyclones are key drivers for people to leave certain places, thus climate-induced migration or climate migration occurs. The negative consequences of climate change are displacing millions of people across the world, with the Asia-Pacific region being one of the most vulnerable. In the Pacific, internal displacement due to climate impacts is occurring, with some Pasifika people seeking to migrate to neighbouring countries such as Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), to secure their livelihoods. The NZ government is calling for a robust evidence base to understand the climate migration context in the Pacific, and to develop appropriate policies to assist and support climate-displaced people.
This research reviews the climate migration literature with four key areas of enquiry: a review of key global policies, initiatives, and mechanisms; a systematic review of global academic scholarship; a bibliometric review of regional Pacific research, and a review of national scale research and policies in NZ. The review reveals a significant gap in knowledge, particularly in qualitative academic research focussed on the livelihood opportunities and challenges for climate migrants in their international destination. Research findings contribute to two migration theories. First, the driving factors in cross-border migration are closely aligned with and support the Black et al. (2011) framework describing the drivers of migration. Secondly, it provides evidence that the ‘aspirations-capabilities framework of migration’ by de Hass (2021) can be applied in the international climate migration context.
This study had three research questions; RQ1) What pathways do Pasifika climate migrants utilise to move to NZ, and what challenges do they face during their migration journeys? RQ2) What are the livelihood opportunities and challenges of Pasifika climate migrants in NZ? and RQ3) What are the social impacts of climate migration for host communities in NZ? Employing a qualitative research approach and using the urban context of South Dunedin, NZ as a case study, the research involved in-depth interviews with two groups of participants. The first group included Pacific migrants who immigrated to NZ due to climate-related impacts, known as the climate migrants’ group. The second consisted of expert knowledge holders with leadership roles within the case study community. A total of 32 participants, 16 from each group were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling techniques.
The study explored the migration journeys of climate migrants, which were driven by the significant, compounding impacts of climatic hazards on the lives and livelihoods. Their journeys were many and varied, and were challenged by a lack of resources and knowledge of the migration process to come to NZ. On arriving in NZ, Pasifika climate migrants reported challenges related to their lack of English language proficiency and communication skills, inadequate or unrecognized educational qualifications, insufficient income, unfamiliarity with the institutional and organizational systems, lack of access to information, cultural misunderstanding, racism, bullying, and discrimination, and lack of support services.
Employing a future-focused interview approach, community leaders shared their views about the strong likelihood of increasing numbers of Pasifika climate migrants in future due to the growing impacts of climate change over time. They identified that changes in demography and pressure on infrastructure and resources had the potential to cause negative social outcomes, if poorly managed. Positive outcomes were also identified, through the contribution climate migrants will make to the social, cultural and economic capability and capacity of South Dunedin.
Migration driven by the direct impacts of climate change is already happening, and will continue into the future. Recognising that climate migrants are coming to New Zealand and these numbers are anticipated to grow in future, this study offers recommendations to mitigate the challenges migrants face during their journey to NZ, and in supporting them to establish their new lives and livelihoods. In doing so, the study contributes to the emerging academic field of climate migration in cross-border contexts by providing an empirical evidence base, exploring new methodological opportunities, and advancing existing migration theory to inform future research.