Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility

Challenge

Climate change impacts in Pacific island countries are driving planned relocation, migration, and displacement, and the region lacks a shared framework for climate-related mobility.

Solution

The Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility provides shared principles and guidance for managing planned relocation, migration, and displacement across the region.

Overview

Climate change is already affecting where people in the Pacific can live. Rising sea levels, more intense tropical cyclones, and soil salinization threaten settlements, damage livelihoods, and force some communities to leave their traditional land. This forced movement, often called displacement, can disrupt social ties and reduce well-being, especially in low-lying island countries.

Despite growing concern about climate-related mobility, there is still no unified international forum or widely accepted global framework dedicated to climate-induced migration and displacement. International organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are working with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on standards and norms, but global agreement on how to manage climate mobility remains limited.

Pacific island countries, faced with these conditions, have treated human mobility as a priority policy issue for many years. Climate impacts pose immediate risks to communities, and governments in the region have sought ways to respond collectively. In 2023, at the 52nd Meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), member states agreed on the Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility. The Pacific Islands Forum is an intergovernmental organization that brings together countries and territories in the region.

The Framework offers a regional approach to human mobility in the context of climate change. It categorizes climate-related mobility into three areas: planned relocation, migration, and displacement. For each, it sets out the rationale for action and outlines possible policy directions that countries can consider.

Climate change and mobility in the Pacific

Pacific island countries are among the places most exposed to sea level rise and extreme weather. Coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, stronger storms, and flood events undermine agriculture, fisheries, housing, and basic infrastructure. In some locations, these pressures are already driving discussions about whether communities can remain in place or will eventually need to move.

These realities make questions of climate mobility, including relocation within countries and potential cross-border movement, central to the region’s adaptation agenda. The Framework responds to this context through planned, cooperative approaches to mobility, rather than ad hoc reactions.

Developing a regional framework

The Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility emerged in a context where there is no single global agreement that governs climate-related movement. Pacific governments recognized the need to clarify concepts, organize regional dialogue, and set priorities for action.

At the 52nd PIF meeting, member states endorsed the Framework as a shared reference for discussing climate mobility. It focuses on how planned relocation, migration, and displacement relate to climate risks in the Pacific and provides a structure for countries to consider when they design their own policies and strategies.

Functions of the Framework

The Framework serves two main functions.

First, it provides a regional reference that countries can use when they develop or update national policies on climate mobility. It brings together concepts and considerations that can inform national efforts to prepare for planned relocations, support people who choose to migrate in response to environmental stress, and assist populations displaced by sudden-onset climate and weather events.

Second, the Framework articulates a distinctly Pacific perspective on climate-induced mobility and displacement. It reflects the concerns and priorities of Pacific countries, where climate change directly threatens land, sea, and community livelihoods. This regional perspective contributes to wider international discussions on climate mobility.

Regional and international relevance

Within the Pacific, the Framework helps countries coordinate their thinking and align climate mobility with broader adaptation and development goals. It encourages regional dialogue on how to manage planned relocation, migration, and displacement in ways that respect people’s rights and maintain community cohesion.

At the international level, the Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility provides one regional example of how governments can organize their response to climate-related movement. As other low-lying and coastal regions confront similar challenges, the Pacific experience may offer useful insights for future regional or global discussions.

Acknowledgements

This report is based on publicly available information on the Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility.

Related information

• Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility
  https://forumsec.org/publications/pacific-regional-framework-climate-mobility