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Paper short abstract:

The paper explores the interface of climate change and mobility through the lens of governance. It discusses ways that governance contexts influence mobility options and practices in areas affected by climate change. Ethiopia and Ghana provides the empirical background for the paper.

Paper long abstract:

Understanding the impact of governance institutions and practices on human mobility in contexts experiencing climate change mobility is a serious challenge today, not least in Africa. World-wide there are an estimated 22.5 million climate-related displaced persons annually, the majority in the global South. Other forms of climate-related mobility, including various forms of migration, resettlement and forced immobility are expected to become increasingly prevalent due to intensifying climate change effects. Yet we currently have a limited understanding of the role of different types of governance in shaping individuals' and households' mobility options and practices in climate change affected contexts. Vulnerability, food insecurity, weak land rights, poor access to resources, lack of assets that can secure better housing and productive capability, and of course poverty and conflict are all commonly explored factors behind mobility, but the role of governance as experienced at the local level where climate change is occurring, is not. It is a knowledge gap that we suggest presents a significant challenge as well as opportunity for governments, global institutions and for the individuals and households directly affected. The paper proposes an approach drawing on analytical work in the fields of mobility/migration, climate change and governance, and empirical evidence from preliminary work undertaken in Ethiopia and Ghana. The paper is part of the Governing Climate Mobility research programme linking three partners: the Danish Institute for International Studies, the Centre for Migration Studies in Ghana and the Forum for Social Studies in Ethiopia.