GC43G-05
Migration in Vulnerable Deltas: A Research Strategy

Thursday, 17 December 2015: 14:40
3001 (Moscone West)
Craig Hutton, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, Robert J Nicholls, University of Southampton, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, Southampton, United Kingdom and Andrew Allan, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1, United Kingdom
Abstract:
C. Hutton1, & R. J. Nicholls1, ,

1 University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom, SO17 1BJ. cwh@geodata. soton.ac.uk

Abstract

Globally, deltas contain 500 million people and with rising sea levels often linked to large number of forced migrants are expected in the coming century. However, migration is already a major process in deltas, such as the growth of major cities such as Dhaka and Kolkata. Climate and environmental change interacts with a range of catchment and delta level drivers, which encompass a nexus of sea-level rise, storms, freshwater and sediment supply from the catchment, land degradation, subsidence, agricultural loss and socio-economic stresses. DECCMA (Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation/CARRIA) is investigating migration in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM), Mahanadi and Volta Deltas, including the influence of climate change. The research will explore migration from a range of perspectives including governance and stakeholder analysis, demographic analysis, household surveys of sending and receiving areas, macro-economic analysis, and hazards and hotspot analysis both historically and into the future. Migration under climate change will depend on other adaptation in the deltas and this will be examined. Collectively, integrated analysis will be developed to examine migration, other adaptation and development pathways with a particular focus on the implications for the poorest. This will require the development of input scenarios, including expert-derived exogenous scenarios (e.g., climate change) and endogenous scenarios of the delta developed in a participatory manner. This applied research will facilitate decision support methods for the development of deltas under climate change, with a focus on migration and other adaptation strategies.