Environmental change has been associated with human mobility over the years and climate change is starting to affect movement in new ways, now termed climate mobility. In this research brief, the effect of climate change on women and persons with disability in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu is examined, with emphasis on human mobility. Results suggest that climate change is negatively affecting women and persons with disability and increasing their vulnerability to other socio-economic factors. They should, therefore, be a central element of strategies for climate change actions and policies. This requires a radical change in policy makers’ perceptions of migration as a problem and a better understanding of the role of local, national, regional and international institutions in supporting and accommodating climate mobility for persons with
disability and women.
The Pacific region is highly vulnerable to climate change and disasters, as demonstrated by a substantive body of scientific research (Power et al. 2016; Kossin, 2018). The most substantial impacts of climate change include more intense cyclones and droughts, resulting in losses of coastal infrastructure and land; failure of subsistence crops and coastal fisheries; loss of coral reefs and mangroves; and the spread of certain diseases (Arnell et al. 2019; Banks et al. 2019; Islam and Shamsuddoha, 2017). All these result in negative consequences for societies (Heslin et al. 2019). McNamara et al. (2018) noted that: “the impacts of climate change are intersecting with all key current concepts and priority areas of international development and poverty alleviation”, including human mobility.
Studies suggest that climate change is a driver of human mobility and is expected to increase the displacement of populations throughout this century (Klepp and Herbeck, 2016; Murphy, 2015; Gaskin, 2017). The risk of displacement increases when populations that lack the resources to migrate experience higher exposure to extreme weather events, in both rural and urban areas, particularly in low-income developing countries. Changes in migration patterns can be responses to both extreme weather events and longer-term climate variability and change, and migration can also be an effective adaptation strategy.
For some persons, this could include displacement and forced evacuation, inadequate evacuation spaces and housing resources, lack of clean water, decreased agricultural yields, damage to ecosystems and reduction of ecosystem services, and health problems. These consequences and many others are changing the health, economic and even physical landscape of societies, especially amongst the less prepared and more vulnerable groups (Kossin, 2018; Burns, 2017). Furthermore, in situations of extreme weather events, there is growing evidence that women and persons with disability are often left behind in the preparedness and response activities of Pacific countries. This is because there are barriers that limit their participation in these key phases of building resilient communities that can adapt to extreme weather events and disasters. These barriers make women and persons with disability more vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and reduce their capability to adapt to these impacts (Farbotko et al. 2018).
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