Policy options to support climate-induced migration: insights from disaster relief in China

Attention to climate-induced migration has grown considerably in recent years, reinforced by high frequency of droughts, storms and flooding. Focusing on migrations induced by flash floods in Zhouqu and droughts in central Ningxia, China this study illustrates key factors in the process of policy options to support climate-induced migration. The study is based on stakeholder interviews and secondary data processing. The findings show that integrating sudden and slow-onset hazards, combining top-down and bottom-up methodology and encouraging private sectors to establish Public-Private Partnership, are the main policy options from disaster relief perspective. Otherwise, two prospective transformations are proposed in policy options, transferring from re-active migration to pro-active migration, and from move & stay to hope & development in the aspect of migrants’ livelihood improvement.