Displaced by the State: The Case of Resettlement
Environment and Migration
Introduction: The Rebels of Vendée
Impacts & Population Displacement
10 Source: Castro et al. 2009 IHDP Open Meeting Presentation
11
Climate-Demography Vulnerability Index
Source: Samson, J., D. Berteaux, B.J. McGill and M.M. Humphries. 2011. Geographic disparities and moral hazards in the predicted impacts of climate change on human populations. Global Ecology and Biogeography http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00632.x
Likely Impacts of Climate Change Requiring Adaptation Infrastructure
12
Impact Potential Adaptation Response
Sea level rise, salt-water intrusion
Sea walls, dykes, freshwater injection facilities
Decreasing water availability, increasing droughts
Dams, irrigation works, water transfer schemes, desalination plants
Increasing water availability, increasing floods
Dams, dykes, levees, flood control infrastructure
Climate Change Mitigation Projects
13
Objective Potential Mitigation Response
Reduce GHG emissions Hydroelectric facilities, large-scale wind farms
Develop biofuels Biofuel plantations (jatropha, sugar cane, soy, corn)
Increase “sinks” for GHGs Forest plantations
Geoengineering Injecting H2S or SO2 high in the stratosphere, tampering with ocean albedo, and possibly terrestrial
Resettlement Is Already OccurringDesertification Inner Mongolia: China’s “ecological reinstallation” program aims to fight
desertification in drought-prone grasslands by sedenterizing pastoralists
River Basins/Coastal Mekong: Vietnam has moved communities from river bank to areas further back Zambezi: Mozambique has promoted voluntary resettlement from flood plain to
higher ground Alaska: Indigenous communities along the coast Coastal Honduras: Garifuna communities settled inland Murik Lakes, PNG: Failed resettlement related to SLR
SISes Maldives: Government promotes resettlement from outer islands to principal islands Carteret Islands, PNG: Failed resettlement related to SLR Kiribati: Buying land in Fiji
14
Learning from the Three-Gorges Dam
Needs (1)1. Legal protections: Establish legal frameworks for climate
change resettlement to protect welfare and human rights of affected populations
2. Participation: Involvement of affected communities, in both source and destination areas, in assessments and decisions regarding resettlement locations, compensation, and development programs
3. Equity: The process needs to be fair and equitable for the community, with every effort made to improve livelihoods
4. Capacity building: Interdisciplinary training for resettlement professionals that includes economics, anthropology, public health, and case studies
16
Needs (2)
5. Impact assessments: Baseline environmental, health, and social IAs to establish benchmarks for evaluating resettlement performance through monitoring and evaluation programs
6. Research: Research to adapt existing knowledge on resettlement to the special case of climate related resettlement, with particular reference to disaster-related resettlement and learning from incipient climate-related resettlement
7. Finance: Establishment of financial mechanisms for capacity building and anticipatory planning in developing countries exposed most to climate risks, with joint funding by donors and the exposed countries themselves, since many M&A projects will not generate revenues that could offset costs
17
Conclusions Resettlement should be a last resort in climate adaptation, but
the reality is that it is already occurring in some countries and this trend is likely to intensify.
We can learn from past mistakes Managing risk is going to be increasingly central in a 2+ or 4+
degree world Expect the unexpected: Many of the most damaging impacts
of large infrastructure and DFDR are unforeseen Need to evaluate pros and cons of different models
Laissez-faire approach (e.g. US post-Katrina, many developing countries) Top-down “environmental migration” approach of China Resettlement of refugee communities (US and Australia)
18