Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T14:09:21.080Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Labor Migration and Climate Change Adaptation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2021

JAMIE DRAPER*
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
*
Jamie Draper, Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow in Politics, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, [email protected].

Abstract

Social scientific evidence suggests that labor migration can increase resilience to climate change. For that reason, some have recently advocated using labor migration policy as a tool for climate adaptation. This paper engages with the normative question of whether, and under what conditions, states may permissibly use labor migration policy as a tool for climate adaptation. I argue that states may use labor migration policy as a tool for climate adaptation and may even have a duty to do so, subject to two moral constraints. First, states must also provide acceptable alternative options for adaptation so that the vulnerable are not forced to sacrifice their morally important interests in being able to remain where they are. Second, states may not impose restrictive terms on labor migrants to make accepting greater numbers less costly for themselves because doing so unfairly shifts the costs of adaptation onto the most vulnerable.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acemoglu, Daron, Johnson, Simon, and Robinson, James A.. 2001. “The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation.” The American Economic Review 91 (5): 13691401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, Richard H. Jr. and Page, John. 2005. “Do International Migration and Remittances Reduce Poverty in Developing Countries?World Development 33 (10): 1645–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adger, W. Neil, Kelly, P. Mick, Winkels, Alexandra, Huy, Luong Quang, and Locke, Catherine. 2002. “Migration, Remittances, Livelihood Trajectories and Social Resilience.” AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 31 (4): 258–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, Bridget. 2010. “Migration, Immigration Controls, and the Fashioning of Precarious Workers.” Work, Employment and Society 24 (2): 300–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aredo, Dejene. 2010. “The Iddir: an Informal Insurance Arrangement in Ethiopia.” Savings and Development 34 (1): 5372.Google Scholar
Asia Development Bank. 2012. “Addressing Climate Change and Migration in Asia and the Pacific.” Report. March 2012. https://www.adb.org/publications/addressing-climate-change-and-migration-asia-and-pacific.Google Scholar
Ayers, Jessica, and Dodman, David. 2010. “Climate Change Adaptation and Development I: the State of the Debate.” Progress in Development Studies 10 (2): 161–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baatz, Christian. 2013. “Responsibility for the Past? Some Thoughts on Compensating Those Vulnerable to Climate Change in Developing Countries.” Ethics, Policy & Environment 16 (1): 94110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baer, Paul. 2006. “Adaptation: Who Pays Whom?” In Fairness in Adaptation to Climate Change, eds. Neil Adger, W., Paavola, Jouni, Huq, Saleemul, and Mace, M. J., 131–53. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Bardsley, Douglas K., and Hugo, Graeme J.. 2010. “Migration and Climate Change: Examining Thresholds of Change to Guide Effective Adaptation Decision-Making.” Population and Environment 32 (2–3): 238–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beitz, Charles. 2009. The Idea of Human Rights. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, Daniel, and Piper, Nicola. 2005. “Justice for Migrant Workers? The Case of Foreign Domestic Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore.” In Multiculturalism in Asia, eds. Kymlicka, Will and He, Baogang, 196222. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertram, Chris. 2019. “The Openness-Rights Trade-Off in Labor Migration: Claims to Citizenship, and Democratic Justice.” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 22 (2): 283–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, Richard, Kniveton, Dominic, and Schmidt-Verkerk, Kerstin. 2011. “Migration and Climate Change: Towards an Integrated Assessment of Sensitivity.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 43 (2): 431–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, Richard, Stephen, R. G. Bennett, Thomas, Sandy M., and Beddington, John R.. 2011. “Migration as Adaptation.” Nature 478 (7370): 447–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Black, Richard, Adger, W. Neil, Arnell, Nigel, Dercon, Stefan, Geddes, Andrew, and Thomas, David. 2011. “Foresight: Migration and Global Environmental Change,” Foresight Reports. London: The Government Office for Science. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287717/11-1116-migration-and-global-environmental-change.pdf.Google Scholar
Blake, Michael. 2020. Justice, Migration and Mercy. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brickner, Rachel, and Straehle, Christine. 2010. “The Missing Link: Gender, Immigration Policy and the Live-in Caregiver Programme in Canada.” Policy and Society 29 (4): 309–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brock, Gillian. 2020. Justice for People on the Move: Migration in Challenging Times. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, Allen. 1987. “Justice and Charity.” Ethics 97 (3): 558–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callies, Daniel, and Moellendorf, Darrel. 2021. “Assessing Climate Policies: Catastrophe Avoidance and the Right to Sustainable Development.” Politics, Philosophy and Economics 20 (2): 127–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caney, Simon. 2010. “Climate Change and the Duties of the Advantaged.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 13 (1): 203–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caney, Simon. 2012. “Just Emissions.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 40 (4): 255300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carens, Joseph. 2013. The Ethics of Immigration. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dellink, Rob, den Elzen, Michel, Aiking, Harry, Bergsma, Emmy, Berkhout, Frans, Dekker, Thijs, and Gupta, Joyeeta. 2009. “Sharing the Burden of Financing Adaptation to Climate Change.” Global Environmental Change 19 (4): 411–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Haas, Hein. 2005. “International Migration, Remittances and Development: Facts and Myths.” Third World Quarterly 26 (8): 1269–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Moor, Nicole. 2011. “Labor Migration for Vulnerable Communities: A Strategy to Adapt to a Changing Environment.” COMCAD Working Papers 101. https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/38064.Google Scholar
de Sherbinin, Alex. 2014. “Climate Change Hotspots Mapping: What Have We Learned?Climatic Change 123 (1): 2337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deressa, Temesgen Tadesse, and Hassan, Rashid M.. 2009. “Economic Impact of Climate Change on Crop Production in Ethiopia: Evidence from Cross-Section Measures.” Journal of African Economies 18 (4): 529–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Docquier, Frédéric, and Rapoport, Hillel. 2012. “Globalization, Brain Drain, and Development.” Journal of Economic Literature 50 (3): 681730.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Draper, Jamie. 2021. “Justice and Internal Displacement.” Political Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217211007641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dustmann, Christian, and Mestres, Josep. 2010. “Remittances and Temporary Migration.” Journal of Development Economics 92 (1): 6270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eriksen, Siri, Schipper, E. Lisa F., Scoville-Simonds, Morgan, Vincent, Katharine, Adam, Hans Nicolai, Brooks, Nick, Harding, Brian, et al. 2021. “Adaptation Interventions and their Effect on Vulnerability in Developing Countries: Help, Hindrance, or Irrelevance?World Development 141: 105383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ezra, Markos, and Kiros, Gebre-Egzaibher. 2001. “Rural Out-Migration in the Drought-Prone Areas of Ethiopia: A Multilevel Analysis.” International Migration Review 35 (3): 749–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fankhauser, Samuel. 2010. “The Costs of Adaptation.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 1 (1): 2330.Google Scholar
Fankhauser, Samuel, Smith, Joel B., and Richard, S. J. Tol. 1999. “Weathering Climate Change: Some Simple Rules to Guide Adaptation Decisions.” Ecological Economics 30 (1): 6778.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fine, Sarah. 2013. “The Ethics of Immigration: Self-Determination and the Right to Exclude.” Philosophy Compass 8 (3): 254–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folke, Carl. 2006. “Resilience: The Emergence of a Perspective for Social–Ecological Systems Analyses.” Global Environmental Change 16 (3): 253–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardiner, Stephen M. 2011. A Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gemenne, François, and Blocher, Julia. 2017. “How Can Migration Serve Adaptation to Climate Change? Challenges to Fleshing Out a Policy Ideal.” The Geographical Journal 183 (4): 336–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gheaus, Anca. 2013. “Care Drain: Who Should Provide for the Children Left Behind?Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 16 (1): 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grasso, Marco. 2010. “An Ethical Approach to Climate Adaptation Finance.” Global Environmental Change 20 (1): 7481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Clark, and Mueller, Valerie. 2012. “Drought and Population Mobility in Rural Ethiopia.” World Development 40 (1): 134–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartz-Nicholls, Lauren. 2011. “Responsibility for Meeting the Costs of Adaptation.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 2 (5): 687700.Google Scholar
Heltberg, Rasumus, Siegel, Paul Bennett, and Jorgensen, Steen Lau. 2009. “Addressing Human Vulnerability to Climate Change: Towards a ‘No-Regrets’ Approach.” Global Environmental Change 19 (1): 8999.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heyward, Clare. 2017. “Ethics and Climate Adaptation.” In The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics, eds. Gardiner, Stephen M. and Thompson, Allen, 474–86. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hunter, Lori M., Murray, Sheena, and Riosmena, Fernando. 2013. “Rainfall Patterns and U.S. Migration from Rural Mexico.” International Migration Review 47 (4): 874909.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2014. Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, eds. Field, Christopher B., Barros, Vincente R., Dokken, David J., Mach, Katharine J., Mastrandrea, Michael D., Bilir, T. Eren, Chatterjee, Monalisa, et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Isaksen, Lise Widding, Devi, Sambasivan Uma, and Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 2008. “Global Care Crisis: A Problem of Capital, Care Chain, or Commons?American Behavioural Scientist 52 (3): 405–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jagers, Sverker C., and Duus-Otterstrom, Göran. 2008. “Dual Climate Change Responsibility: On the Moral Divergences between Mitigation and Adaptation.” Environmental Politics 17 (4): 576–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kälin, Walter. 2010. “Conceptualizing Climate-Induced Displacement.” In Climate Change and Displacement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, ed. McAdam, Jane, 81104. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Kapur, Devesh, and McHale, John. 2005. Give Us Your Best and Brightest: The Global Hunt for Talent and Its Impact on the Developing World. Washington DC: Centre for Global Development.Google Scholar
Lenard, Patti Tamara, and Straehle, Christine. 2010. “Temporary Labor Migration: Exploitation, Tool of Development, or Both?Policy and Society 29 (4): 284–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lenard, Patti Tamara, and Straehle, Christine. 2011. “Temporary Migration, Global Redistribution and Democratic Justice.” Politics, Philosophy and Economics 11 (2): 206–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, Peter D., Stone, M. Priscilla, Tewodaj Mogues, A. Peter Castro, and Negatu, Workneh. 2006. “‘Moving in Place’: Drought and Poverty Dynamics in South Wollo, Ethiopia.” The Journal of Development Studies 42 (2): 200–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maharjan, Amina, de Campos, Ricardo Safra, Singh, Chandni, Das, Shouvik, Srinivas, Arjun, Bhuiyan, Mohammad Rashed Alam, Ishaq, Sultan, et al. 2020. “Migration and Household Adaptation in Climate-Sensitive Hotspots in South Asia.” Current Climate Change Reports 6: 116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Massey, Douglas, Arango, Joaquin, Hugo, Graeme, Kouaouci, Ali, Pellegrino, Adela, and Taylor, J. Edward. 1993. “Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal.” Population and Development Review 19 (3): 431–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, Robert. 2005. “Guestworkers and Exploitation.” The Review of Politics 67 (2): 311–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLeman, Robert, and Smit, Barry. 2006. “Migration as an Adaptation to Climate Change.” Climatic Change 76 (1–2): 3153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLeman, Robert, and Hunter, Lori. 2010. “Migration in the Context of Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change: Insights from Analogues.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 1 (3): 450–61.Google ScholarPubMed
Milanovic, Branko. 2016. Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.Google Scholar
Miller, David. 2007. National Responsibility and Global Justice. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moellendorf, Darrel. 2014. The Moral Challenge of Dangerous Climate Change: Values, Poverty, and Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moellendorf, Darrel. 2015. “Climate Change Justice.” Philosophy Compass 10 (3): 173–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, Margaret. 2015. A Political Theory of Territory. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Narain, Urvashi, Margulis, Sergio, and Essam, Timothy. 2011. “Estimating the Costs of Adaptation to Climate Change.” Climate Policy 11 (3): 1001–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oberman, Kieran. 2011. “Immigration, Global Poverty, and the Right to Stay.” Political Studies 59 (2): 253–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oberman, Kieran. 2015. “Poverty and Immigration Policy.” American Political Science Review 109 (2): 239–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olsaretti, Serena. 2004. Liberty, Desert, and the Market: A Philosophical Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valeria, Ottonelli, and Torresi, Tiziana. 2012. “Inclusivist Liberal Egalitarianism and Temporary Migration: A Dilemma.” Journal of Political Philosophy 20 (2): 202–24.Google Scholar
Ottonelli, Valeria, and Torresi, Tiziana. 2013. “When is Migration Voluntary?International Migration Review 47 (4): 783813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jouni, Paavola, and Adger, W. Neil. 2006. “Fair Adaptation to Climate Change.” Ecological Economics 56 (4): 594609.Google Scholar
Piguet, Etienne, Pécoud, Antoine, and de Guchteneire, Paul. 2011. “Migration and Climate Change: An Overview.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 30 (3): 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pogge, Thomas. 2002. World Poverty and Human Rights. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Porter, Catherine. 2012. “Shocks, Consumption and Income Diversification in Rural Ethiopia.” Journal of Development Studies 48 (9): 1209–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Posner, Eric, and Weyl, Glen. 2014. “A Radical Solution to Global Income Inequality: Make the U.S. More like Qatar.” The New Republic, November 7. https://newrepublic.com/article/120179/how-reduce-global-income-inequality-open-immigration-policies.Google Scholar
Rodrik, Dani. 2011. The Globalization Paradox: Why Global Markets, States, and Democracy Can’t Coexist. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ruhs, Martin. 2013. The Price of Rights: Regulating International Labor Migration. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Ruhs, Martin, and Martin, Philip. 2008. “Numbers vs. Rights: Trade-Offs and Guest-Worker Programs.” International Migration Review 42 (1): 249–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schelling, Thomas C. 1992. “Some Economics of Global Warming.” The American Economic Review 82 (1): 114.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shue, Henry. 2014. Climate Justice: Vulnerability and Protection. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shue, Henry. 2015. “Historical Responsibility, Harm Prohibition, and Preservation Requirement: Core Practical Convergence on Climate Change.” Moral Philosophy and Politics 2 (1): 731.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, Oded. 1991. The Migration of Labor. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Stark, Oded, Helmenstein, Christian, and Prskawetz, Alexia. 1997. “A Brain Drain with a Brain Gain.” Economics Letters 55 (2): 227–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, Oded, and Bloom, David. 1985. “The New Economics of Labor Migration.” The American Economic Review 75 (2): 173–78.Google Scholar
Stilz, Anna. 2019. Territorial Sovereignty: A Philosophical Exploration. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tacoli, Cecilia. 2009. “Crisis or Adaptation? Migration and Climate Change in the Context of High Mobility.” Environment & Urbanization 21 (2): 513–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, J. Edward. 1999. “The New Economics of Labor Migration and the Role of Remittances in the Migration Process.” International Migration 37 (1): 6388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valentini, Laura. 2013. “Justice, Charity and Disaster Relief: What Do We Owe to Haiti, New Zealand and Japan?American Journal of Political Science 57 (2): 491503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warner, Koko, and Afifi, Tamer. 2014. “Where the Rain Falls: Evidence from 8 Countries on How Vulnerable Households Use Migration to Manage the Risk of Rainfall Variability and Food Insecurity.” Climate and Development 6 (1): 117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webber, Michael, and Barnett, Jon. 2010. Accommodating Migration to Promote Adaptation to Climate Change. Washington, DC: The World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weyl, Glen. 2018. “The Openness-Equality Trade-off in Global Redistribution.” The Economic Journal 128 (612): F1F36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolff, Jonathan. 1998. “Fairness, Respect, and the Egalitarian Ethos.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 27 (2): 97122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolff, Jonathan, and De-Shalit, Avner. 2007. Disadvantage. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank. 2016. Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016, 3rd edition. Washington DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Yang, Dean, and Choi, HwaJung. 2007. “Are Remittances Insurance? Evidence from Rainfall Shocks in the Philippines.” The World Bank Economic Review 21 (2): 219–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.