Climate Change, Human Mobility and Security

This SIPRI Policy Brief explores the connected challenges of climate change, human mobility and security, highlighting how fragmented policies and misconceptions—such as the myth of mass climate migration—hinder effective responses. The brief contributes to addressing this gap by presenting findings on three underexplored dynamics across the mobility spectrum. It finds that urban migration can support adaptation but also strain urban conditions, involuntary immobility can heighten people’s vulnerabilities, and poorly designed climate action can lead to displacement, inequality or unrest. These dynamics show that governance determines the security outcomes of human mobility. To address this, the policy brief calls for safe, rights-based migration that facilitates climate adaptation; support for the most vulnerable, immobile populations; and people-led, democratic climate action.