Compound Climate Displacement in Pakistan

Abstract

Climate change is a problem for Pakistan, when ecological disruptions combine with institutional fragility, they can result in a devastating scale of climate induced migration. Yet, existing theories of migration, and mainstream push-pull theories in particular, are poorly equipped to address the entwined and sophisticated drives to mobility within such an environment. This paper provides an analytical framework that integrates multi-causal approaches to displacement with attention to the mediating role of institutional vulnerability in the effects of climate change. This analysis focuses on northern Pakistan, where community displacements have been recurrent due to glacial retreat and outburst flooding of glacial lakes, and southern Pakistan, particularly Keti Bunder, where the sea-level rise, increased salinization, and cyclones gradually erode livelihoods. This article contributes to broader discussions around climate mobility in the Global South and the urgent need for anticipatory relocation planning and governance reform.