Article

Ensuring access to decent work in the context of climate displacement is an essential element of supporting a ‘just transition’. Emerging practices from across the world suggest how climate action and labour strategies can reinforce each other.

Climate literacy enables greater agency, decision-making, and meaningful refugee participation. One refugee-led organisation in Egypt is piloting workshops and supporting community-led initiatives to help translate knowledge into power.

Climate-related displacement causes non-economic losses – of land, heritage and identity – that cannot be adequately addressed through financial compensation alone. Policy responses must centre affected people’s values and choices, prioritising dignity, cultural continuity, habitability and social cohesion.

Australia and New Zealand’s permanent migration pathways for Pacific Islanders who are at risk of climate displacement may reflect geopolitical interests and neo-colonial power dynamics, rather than rights-based protection.

Being forced to move means more than just the loss of property and income – it entails a deep rupture of cultural and spiritual ties. That means relocation requires solutions that are not just technical – they must centre community perspectives.

The degree of suddenness of a climate hazard influences any subsequent relocation in multiple ways – from the institutional response to the psychosocial experience for affected communities – requiring approaches tailored to different timelines.