Climate Mobility and Displacement

As climate change intensifies, so too does climate mobility—the movement of people in response to climate-related risks such as sea level rise, droughts, wildfires, stronger storms, and excessive heat. In the US,  projections based on sea level rise alone suggest that 13 million people could be displaced by the year 2100.  Who can relocate, when, and with what degree of agency is shaped by financial and social inequalities. This project looks at climate mobility as a diverse set of voluntary and involuntary actions ranging from planned relocation to forced displacement or immobility, within and across borders.

In our Climate Mobility and Displacement work, we address critical gaps in understanding and planning for climate-induced population movement. We are exploring planned relocation as an adaptation strategy among many available to communities; climate migration as a repeat rather than one-time event; the consequences of siloed housing and climate policy; and the false distinction between “sending” and “receiving” communities when all places face unpredictable, often interrelated climate hazards and climate mobility. To fill these gaps, the project undertakes exploratory, boundary-spanning work that connects academic research, community experience, and practitioner needs. We focus on land use and management as a potential key driver of displacement and resettlement outcomes, and as an avenue for equitable adaptation and greater resilience.

Peer Learning and Boundary Spanning

The people studying, planning for, and living through climate mobility aren’t always able to collaborate, though they’re often grappling with similar challenges from different angles. Addressing climate mobility well means interconnecting these perspectives rather than letting them develop in isolation. In partnership with several other key organizations focused on climate mobility, including the Climigration Network, and ICLEI USA, we are collaborating with frontline community leaders, academic researchers, practitioners, cities, and funders whose work touches on the many facets of climate migration and displacement. By facilitating connections among stakeholders, hosting convenings, and coordinating and conducting research that aligns with community needs, we are bringing groups together so that research, policy, and on-the-ground experience can be mutually informative. Embracing our role as a boundary-spanning organization, we are building the infrastructure and setting the stage for a coordinated ecosystem of shared learning, research, increased capacity, more efficient resource allocation, and evidence-based policy action.

A line of cars drives past a blue sign that reads evacuation route.

Revista Land Lines

Storm Surge: How Can Cities and Regions Plan for Climate Relocation?

The day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast in August 2005, Jessica Dandridge-Smith turned 16. But instead of celebrating her milestone birthday at home, she and her family had evacuated from New Orleans, with what remained of her possessions stuffed into a single suitcase. When she eventually returned to the city, the suffering she saw—disproportionately wrought upon Black neighborhoods and accompanied by a slow federal relief response—angered her.

Surfacing Innovative Approaches

Working directly with community leaders and local practitioners, we pursue proof-of-concept through case studies and pilots that surface real on-the-ground challenges, and we codevelop planning and policy approaches alongside the people experiencing those challenges. Much of this work began with flood-related risk and is expanding to include wildfire and heat, broadening the range of hazards and geographies involved.

Because climate hazards and mobility are poorly understood and unpredictable in any given geography, we draw on the Lincoln Institute’s deep expertise to use an exploratory, scenario-based approach to support decision-making. We’re applying it across a growing set of pilot communities and partner networks. What began as largely domestic work is expanding internationally, as we build partnerships connecting scholars, practitioners, and community leaders across different regions.

This wide-ranging approach ensures that tools, policy frameworks, and lessons developed in one setting can inform and strengthen climate mobility planning elsewhere. These place-based efforts produce insights and evidence-based solutions that local leaders in other communities can adapt and put into practice, whether they’re planning for relocation, responding to an acute climate hazard, or preparing for an influx of climate migrants while trying to support current residents.