Crisis or adaptation? Migration and climate change in a context of high mobility

predictions is the view that migration refl ects a failure to adapt to changes in the physical environment and that migrants are a relatively undifferentiated group all making similar emergency responses and moving to random destinations, including international ones. This is somehow at odds with the more nuanced view of migration as a key adaptive response to socio-economic, cultural and environmental change. From this perspective, the specifi c characte ristics of migrant fl ows—duration, destination and composition—are essential to understanding their impact on sending and destination areas and to developing appropriate policies. It is likely that both extreme weather events (storms, fl oods, heat waves) and changes in mean temperatures, precipitation and sea levels will in many cases contribute to increasing levels of mobility. However, there are inherent diffi cul- ties in predicting with any precision how climate change will impact on popula- tion distribution and movement. This is partly because of the relatively high level of uncertainty about the specifi c effects of climate change, and partly because of the lack of comprehensive data on migration fl ows, especially movements within national boundaries, in particular, for low-income countries that are likely to be most affected by climate change (Kniveton et al., 2008). Better information is im- portant to formulate appropriate policy responses at the global level and at the local and national levels. At the same time, policies that build on existing strategies to support adapta- tion to climate change are among the most likely to succeed. There is growing evi- dence suggesting that mobility, along with income diversifi cation, is an important stra tegy to reduce vulnerability to environmental and non-environmental risks, including economic shocks and social marginalization. In many cases, mobility not only increases resilience but also enables individuals and households to ac- cumulate assets. As such, it will probably play an increasingly crucial role in ad-