Page - 246 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

246 A.Heslinet al. affectedpopulationsat thetimeofdepartureaswellasintheprocessofresettlement. In this section,wedetail a selectionof cases inwhich the environment plays a role in the displacement of a population, including sea-level rise, cyclonic storms, and desertification,aswellas theroleofdeforestationasadriverofbothclimatechange andmigration.Weoutlineexamplesof each,highlighting thecomplex setof losses anddamages incurredbypopulations ineachcase. 10.4.1 Sea-LevelRise inPacificIslandStates ThedominantmediarepresentationofPacificSmallIslandDevelopingStates(SIDS) isofdrowning islands,with risingsea levels compelling residents tomove (Barnett andCampbell 2010).However, this narrative is simplistic for two reasons. Firstly, whilesea-levelrisedoescauseerosionandmorefrequent,andintensefloodingevents (Nurseetal.2014),andfloodscandamageproperty,destroycrops,contaminatewater suppliesandspreaddiseasethroughpenetratingseptictanks(ADB2014),it isnotthe only climatehazarddrivingmobility.Changes in rainfall can combinewith lackof aquiferstoproduceashortageofwaterforbathing,drinking,cookingandagriculture (IPCC 2014) and the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere is contributing to ocean acidification, impactingonfisheries (Manzello et al. 2017). Secondly, islanders are notautomatonswhichrespondtoclimatechangeinfixedwaybymovingawayfrom thesea.Instead,theyhaveadegreeofindividualandcollectiveagencytorespond,and adapt toclimatechange(Gemenne2011). It isalsotruethatbothclimatechangerisk perceptions and attitudes towards mobility are nuanced and differentiated within Pacific SIDS. Recent qualitative research on Kiribati found three distinct shared viewpoints on the themes.One group seemed to exempt itself from agency in the matter, claiming thatGodwoulddecide the fateofKiribati.Anothergroupbelieved thatclimatechangewould likely result insomepeople leaving their islands,whilea final group stressed the existential threats of climate change to islands, populations andculture (Oakeset al. 2016). Nonetheless,whentheimpactsofclimatechangeinteractwiththephysicalgeog- raphyanddevelopmentalstatusoftheSIDS,humanmobilitycananddoesoccurand suchmovements have implications for Loss andDamage, with a general trend of themoreagential themovement, the less severe losses anddamages.Displacement can occurwhen an intensive natural hazard such as a stormor flood compels peo- ple to leave their place of residence. Forcibly displaced persons have little control overwhen,where andhow theymove and as a result aremore likely to be subject to losses and damages. InKiribati, a survey revealed that almost every household (94%) reported that they had been impacted by a natural hazard over the period 2005–2015, with sea-level rise affecting 80% of households (Oakes et al. 2016). The same study found that one in sevenof allmovements from2005 to2015were attributed toenvironmentalchange(14%),and thevastmajorityofsuchmovements wereinternal(Fig.10.6).This isdespite thefact that internationalmovementisoften