The Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Policy Brief Series aims to contribute to the global knowledge base on the relationship between migration and environmental change, including climate change, and the formulation of related policy options. The series is produced as part of the Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy (MECLEP) project funded by the European Union, implemented by IOM through a consortium with six research partners.

The first issue by Jane M. Chun, PhD, examines relocation programmes undertaken due to heavy seasonal floods in the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam. Based on the author’s own empirical research in two rural communes in upstream areas of the Mekong Delta, the article discusses the key household assets that determine the household vulnerability, livelihood outcomes and mobility decision-making in conditions of environmental stress. The study measures differential vulnerability among households, and how livelihoods are pursued and responses undertaken in conditions of environmental stress. According to Chun, “by identifying key assets and appropriate points of entry for intervention, it is possible to more sustainably decrease vulnerability in an informed manner, rather than produce vulnerability shifts. This is relevant for relocation programmes, specifically in determining whether they are appropriate, and for whom and how they should be implemented.”

The Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Policy Brief Series welcomes submissions from policymakers and researchers worldwide. For inquiries on article submission, please contact the MECLEP team (MECLEP@iom.int).