By Lauren Grant, Beyond Climate Collaborative and Gabriela Nagle Alverio, Beyond Climate Collaborative & Duke University, United States

Nothing more than an optical illusion.” These are the powerful words that an Indian COP29 delegate, Chandni Raina, used to describe the “paltry sum” of $300 billion per year pledged by developed countries to support developing countries cope with climate change impacts. The ‘Finance COP’, which purported to place climate justice at the center of the negotiating table, proved woefully disappointing for developing countries, further enshrining the need for justice-based, decolonial and feminist approaches to equitable climate action.

COP29 outcomes have significant consequences for millions around the world with few options to adapt to intensifying climate stressors, especially those in poorer countries and communities, who are least responsible and hardest hit. Many are left with no choice but to migrate away from their homes, leaving behind their communities, connections to land, and integral parts of their cultures. Conversely, many others, lacking the financial resources to undertake a move, involuntarily remain in precarious and unsafe circumstances.

Displacement and involuntary immobility driven by extreme heat and other climate impacts are no longer future scenarios— they are an urgent reality. Yet, COP29 dialogues failed to prioritize or adequately address climate mobility. Mobility has remained primarily limited to conversations about loss and damage, which frame it as an irreversible and unavoidable climate impact. While that may be true for many, siloing the mobility conversation leaves those using migration as an adaptation strategy out of the negotiations. Working against this, mobility advocates were successful in including non-binding language in the Presidency Text on the Global Goal on Adaptation that calls for data collection specific to migrants. But if we want to ensure that mobility is not just a form of loss and damage, we must go much further to incorporate human mobility within climate action, planning and finance as a matter of justice, equity and respect for the rights and dignity of those on the frontlines of climate change.

As we witnessed at COP29, wealthy nations continue to exploit global resources, while evading their climate finance obligations and closing and securitizing their borders, leaving countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India to manage escalating displacement crises. For instance, South Asia has seen a growth  in displacement caused by extreme heat waves. Studies from India reveal how rising temperatures and precipitation anomalies disrupt livelihoods, forcing internal migration among agricultural workers from rural communities and the urban poor.

Climate stressors that lead to displacement do not impact everyone in the same way. Instead, persons living in poverty and groups such as women and girls, children, the elderly, Indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities bear disproportionate burdens. Such groups are often excluded from policy, planning, and finance – further exacerbating their vulnerabilities and poor adaptation outcomes. Climate action that fails to place the realities of differential vulnerability at the center, while obfuscating the crucial role of migration as an adaptation strategy and displacement as a consequential outcome, will only serve to heighten vulnerabilities and reproduce dynamics of structural inequities and colonial power systems.

Far from being passive victims, people on the move and displaced individuals—and women in particular—are key agents of adaptation, contributing to local climate resilience through knowledge, resource management and social networks. Communities on the frontlines are acutely aware of the challenges they face and the possible solutions that can mitigate risks, enhance their resilience and advance positive migration outcomes. Decolonial and feminist approaches to climate action require inclusive governance processes and discourses that champion the agency of impacted groups. To this end, governments must support equitable climate action by:

1. Recognizing that mobility is inevitable on a warming planet, and requires the advancement of safe, orderly, and regular migration pathways

Parties to the UNFCCC must consider mobility in their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) through inclusive, participatory and informed processes at all levels of development, implementation and monitoring. This includes planning for migration at the intersection of national climate action and domestic policies by, for instance, expanding the stock of affordable housing, providing access to healthcare and social services to those without documentation, and removing barriers to accessing education in receiving areas. Countries should also consider how migrants can promote economic development and provide legal protections for migrant workers to reduce the risk of abuse and trafficking. Domestic policies should be complemented with regional agreements facilitating migration, such as the Kampala Convention, or permanent residence, like the Falepili Union Treaty.

2. Acknowledging and supporting local climate action, even in the absence of coordinated government policies

Rather than continuing to approach climate mobility solutions through the lens of state centrality, conversations should be reoriented and restructured to be driven by those who are on the ground––particularly women, who are often at the forefront of community resilience and adaptation efforts. Addressing intersecting inequalities and ensuring that women and marginalized groups have the resources, authority, and platforms to lead the development of effective plans and programs should be priorities for climate action. To this end the communication gap between government, local actors and donors should be addressed so that local resilience strategies and proposed solutions are recognized and valued.

3. Collecting data and crafting inclusive policies with affected populations that are responsive to differential vulnerability dynamics

A new narrative that recognises that climate impacts and experiences of climate-related (im)mobilities affect distinct groups of people differently should be normalised within UNFCCC processes and beyond, mainstreaming the lived experience of intersectional identities within knowledge production, policy agendas, migration governance and climate action.

As we reflect on the outcomes of COP29, it is essential that we prioritize climate mobility through decolonial and feminist lenses going forward. People are already on the move; it’s time policies move with them.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of AIDMI.