Policy recommendations regarding human mobility in the context of climate change
Citation: Nayna Schwerdtle P, Stockemer J, Bowen KJ, et al. A meta-synthesis of policy recommendations regarding human mobility in the context of climate change. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(24):9342.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: The authors reported that they received no external funding for this review.
What is this? Climate change and changes in migration patterns present challenges for global health, and guidelines for migration in the context of climate change may be helpful.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies of migration (including forced migration, planned relocation and immobility) and health in the context of climate change. They restricted their searches to articles published in English or German from 1990 to 2020 and did their final search in August 2020. They included 68 studies, with the most common locations for these studies being Bangladesh (19 studies), USA (8) and India (5).
What was found: Six main themes were found among the policy recommendations:
- Migration should serve as a last resort when responding to climate change.
- Preserve and protect the socio-cultural ties of mobile populations.
- Enable participation and self-sufficiency of migrants in relocation and resettlement sites.
- Strengthen health systems by reducing barriers to healthcare access among migrants and building climate resilience.
- Support the optimization of social determinants of health among migrants.
- Integrate health into loss and damage assessments and consider vulnerable populations.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that transformative policies are needed that support the health of those involved in migration related to climate change. They called for future research to focus on mitigation strategies in conjunction with climate adaptation.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence, socioeconomic status and time-dependent relationships (i.e. migration in the context of climate change).
This summary was prepared by Catherine Haynes, checked by Grace Meng, and finalized by Mike Clarke.