In 2023, United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) released a report exploring the work of CJRF partners addressing climate mobility. One key question it poses is: How can immobility drive L&D?
For the Banaban community, this question reflects a lived reality spanning generations. In the 1940s, the British colonial government mined their homeland—Banaba (Ocean Island)—for phosphate, leaving it uninhabitable. Forced to relocate, many Banabans moved to Rabi Island in Fiji, while others dispersed across the Pacific.
In Bangladesh’s coastal regions of Kutubdia and Bashkhali, climate-induced disasters have destroyed homes, land, and livelihoods, leaving families displaced and vulnerable. Many end up on embankments or roadsides without secure shelter or access to basic services like water, healthcare, or education.
In several Alaskan villages—including Shishmaref, Kivalina, and Newtok—residents made the decision to relocate over 20 years ago due to the threats posed by coastal erosion, flooding, and permafrost thaw.
Among the questions explored in the report is: How can displacement drive losses and damages? The experience of communities in Cogea, Fiji, helps illustrate this.
Harare, the capital and largest city of Zimbabwe, is experiencing rapid urban sprawl and population growth, with 1.6 million people spread across the 45 municipal ward boundaries of the city. As the population surges, so to do the demands on the water infrastructure of the city.