The nexus between climate change and human mobility has increasingly become an area of focus for researchers and policymakers in countries across the world. Climate change is transforming how people live, work, and move, and its impacts shape and influence the patterns of migration, disaster displacement, and planned relocation.

Human mobility is a complex, cross-sectoral, and highly context-specific phenomenon that can have positive or negative consequences. In some cases, it can become a successful adaptation measure or contribute to long-term resilience by diversifying income sources, reducing exposure to hazards, or facilitating an exchange of knowledge, skills, and market access; in other cases, mobility can be a form of loss and damage and lead to loss of property, livelihoods, health, social cohesion, sense of place, cultural heritage, and ecosystems.

‍

Climate change and human mobility in Sri Lanka

Climate-related human mobility takes many forms in Sri Lanka. Drought-stricken agricultural communities engage in cyclical rural-urban migration while fisherfolk migrate along the coastline in response to shifting aquatic ecosystems or erosion of landing sites. Decision-making around labour migration is increasingly influenced by erratic weather patterns and extreme weather events, which severely impact houses, property, and livelihoods. Floods, storms, landslides, and sea level rise displace households and entire communities, while relocation programmes aim to permanently move people out of high-risk areas. Overall, climate change significantly shapes the patterns of mobility within the country and in relation to cross-border migration, a fact that has been recognized in key documents such as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the national climate change policy (NCCP).

Similarly, Sri Lanka’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) highlights displacement as a climate risk and commits to developing contingency plans for coastal relocation. In 2016, Sri Lanka finalised its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) for climate change impacts and submitted it to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as one of the first countries in the world. As part of the process of implementing the NAP, the country is also developing provincial adaptation plans (PAPs) to localise national actions and implement them at the provincial and local level.

Prepared by the Provincial Councils and its Chief Secretary, with the support of Provincial Adaptation Boards and Climate Cells, these PAPs aim to localize the NAP by developing local solutions based on local experience and data. So far, all nine provinces of Sri Lanka have developed draft PAPs, which are currently undergoing further refinement and validation.

In this process of localization, our research aims to identify key considerations and entry points for climate-related human mobility. As one of three country case studies, Sri Lanka exemplifies a country with advanced NAP implementation in the Asia-Pacific region, looking particularly at the second-highest level of governance, the provincial level.

‍

Recommendations and key considerations

During a workshop organized in September 2024 by SLYCAN Trust in collaboration with the Climate Change Secretariat of the Ministry of Environment and with support of the NAP Global Network, stakeholders highlighted several important points:

• Establish clear mechanisms for meaningful implementation (e.g., for funding adaptation actions and relocation efforts, integrating gender and social inclusion)
• Close knowledge gaps (e.g., between national and provincial policies) and alleviate the existing lack of data and identify the climate dimensions of human mobility
• Ensure compatibility and comparability of data between provinces
• Include a specific sector/cross-cutting area on human mobility in each PAP
• Mainstream human mobility into provincial investment plans and cost relevant adaptation actions
• Identity and map available resources (e.g., sanitation, water, land, healthcare, education) in potential destination areas for planned relocation
• Identify high-risk areas and projected origin as well as destination areas within each province and across provinces to enable long-term anticipatory planning
• Establish and strengthen mechanisms as well as infrastructure for community evacuation and temporary relocation/shelter
• Map interlinkages between climate-related human mobility and other challenges (such as human-elephant conflict, pollution, and poverty) at the provincial level
• Create and bundle case study evidence in a form that is easily accessible for policymakers (case study compendium)
• Strengthen technical capacities of provincial institutions and local stakeholders, as well as collaboration between them to ensure effective implementation, on climate-related human mobility and climate change adaptation

As the impacts of climate change intensify, Sri Lanka’s communities and economic sectors will increasingly face the prospect of moving in response. From coastal displacement due to sea level rise to rural migration driven by drought, human mobility should be part of the country’s adaptation planning at both the national and local level. By enhancing coordination, building capacities, and creating knowledge on these issues, local and national plans can help to develop financial and technical resources for adaptation and foster collaboration across and between different levels and actors, including regional and global ones.

Sri Lanka has an opportunity to integrate human mobility into its local adaptation plans to proactively address issues and utilise opportunities, reducing vulnerability, protecting livelihoods, and building long-term resilience in both origin and destination areas of mobility. The country’s experience with climate-related human mobility and local adaptation planning could provide a valuable case study to identify good practices and success stories as well as challenges to overcome.