From the Frying Pan into the Fire? Climate Change, Urbanization and (In)Security in Pacific Island Countries and Territories

Abstract

Most Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) have experienced urban population growth for some time although the rates vary across the region. The drivers have traditionally been economic and social although the role of environmental degradation has been largely overlooked. As the populations of towns and cities have grown in PICTs, urban population densities have increased and available land for expansion has been restricted. Accordingly, many urban migrants live in informal peri urban settlements with little or no land security and limited government services such as sanitation, water supply and electricity. Employment is difficult to find and there are significant amounts of poverty. In this context there are high levels of individual and human insecurity and crimes including violence are often attributed to these problems. In some countries land related violence in urban areas has escalated into major conflicts. More recently climate change has been seen as an additional driver of urbanization and its role is expected to increase, although separating the social, economic and climate change causes is extremely difficult if not impossible. Already some communities have been relocated in several countries and some individual or family migration has been attributed to deteriorating human (land, livelihood, and habitat) security caused by climate change in rural areas. Because in most PICTs there are few alternatives, urban areas are likely to be the destinations for many climate change migrants and urbanization rates can be expected to further increase. Moreover, as options for settlement in peri urban areas lessen and numbers grow, more migrants are likely to find themselves occupying densely populated and increasingly environmentally marginal areas (such as steep and unstable slopes, river flood plains and low-lying coastal areas) that may be as exposed as their original homes. At the same time many of the migrants may be facing increasing social and economic insecurity related to urban living.