The overlooked challenge of climate-induced migration: Why we must act now

While international forums are increasingly acknowledging the need to address climate-induced migration, concrete action remains fragmented and significantly underfunded. Within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), human mobility is largely absent from key climate targets like the Global Goal on Adaptation, and although the issue is frequently mentioned in National Adaptation Plans, coherent implementation is rare.

Major climate funds such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) tend to treat migration as a secondary issue, often as a co-benefit of adaptation and resilience projects. The new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) is the first to explicitly include climate mobility – yet its initial pledges cover only a fraction of what would be required to address the challenge at scale. Similarly, multilateral development banks rarely link their climate and migration portfolios (source: Migration Policy Institute), resulting in a patchwork of ad hoc responses.

Overall, international climate finance remains insufficient where it is most urgently needed: at the local level. In the IGAD region – a regional economic community of East African countries – 81 percent of funding for climate adaptation measures is implemented by national governments and multilateral organizations, leaving only a minimal share for local actors. Yet locally led projects can deliver far more context-sensitive and effective adaptation measures, as demonstrated by a study from the IIED Climate Change Group. Although efforts have been made to improve access to funding at the local level, progress so far has been limited.

To address this gap, new financing models are emerging. The Global Cities Fund, launched by our partner organization the Mayors Migration Council, enables cities to access resources directly. In Beira, Mozambique, for example, it supported the voluntary and dignified relocation of families living in high-risk areas by enabling the city to provide housing and infrastructure.

Initiatives such as the Communities Climate Adaptation Facility (C-CAF), led by our partner the Global Centre for Climate Mobility, aim to improve climate finance so that it aligns with local needs and reaches communities quickly. In Fiji, the communities of Macuata-i-Wai, Narata and Vuniniudrovu are each receiving funding for urgent adaptation measures—from raising homes and restoring mangroves to relocating households threatened by flooding and coastal erosion.