World Migration Report 2022: Chapter 9 - Migration and slow-onset impacts of climate change: taking stock and taking action

This chapter focuses on migration in the context of the slow-onset impacts of climate change, an area where policy and knowledge gaps remain. It presents some of the key challenges associated with understanding and taking action on slow-onset climate impacts and migration issues, and explores how migration policy and practice can play a role in responding to some of the most pressing challenges.

Looking ahead at a future in which slow-onset climate events are expected to worsen, appropriate migration management policies and practices can and should be part of the solution. Recent examples of migration policy initiatives that address climate impacts on migration, including slow-onset dimensions, are outlined in the chapter.

At the global level, policy discussions have identified some entry points where migration policymakers could be instrumental in promoting positive changes, notably in terms of facilitating migration in the context of slow-onset climate events, and there has been growing interest among both developed and developing States in discussing migration linked to climate impacts in policy terms.