Towards a Better Understanding of Climate (Im)mobility: Identifying Environmental Shocks, the Role of Retain Factors and Dynamics in Migration Decisions

As climate change reshapes livelihoods and living conditions, people face difficult choices about whether to move, stay, or adapt in place. This project examines how environmental shocks influence migration and immobility, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. By combining georeferenced climate and disaster data with individual-level survey data on migration aspirations, plans, and staying preferences, the project seeks to better understand when and why climate-related pressures translate into mobility decisions. It also pays close attention to the factors that enable or constrain people to remain in climate-affected areas, including adaptation options, socioeconomic conditions, health-related vulnerabilities, and broader inequalities. In doing so, the project contributes to growing research on the climate-migration-health nexus and aims to generate evidence that can inform more inclusive adaptation, migration, and development policies.