Attitudes towards and implications of climate mobility from Kiribati and Tuvalu to Aotearoa New Zealand
This is a completed doctoral research project in Pyschology. View the full thesis here.
Research team
Doctoral candidate: Olivia Yates (Psychology, FoS) – o.yates@auckland.ac.nz
Primary supervisor: Dr. Sam Manuela (Psychology, FoS) – s.manuela@auckland.ac.nz
Other supervisors: Dr Shiloh Groot (Psychology, FoS) – s.groot@auckland.ac.nz
Professor Andreas Neef (Development Studies) – a.neef@auckland.ac.nz
The research
Overall, the research project aims to address the well-being implications of climate mobility for I-Kiribati and Tuvaluans living in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. This is a collaborative research project run alongside the Tuvaluan and Kiribati communities. Our project considers the communities’ lived experiences of mobility in the context of climate and against the backdrop of Aotearoa NZ’s social and political climate. Our specific research questions are:
- What do Aotearoa NZers understand about Pacific climate mobility and climate justice within the region?
- How is climate mobility being addressed within the climate movement in Aotearoa NZ?
- How do youth climate activists understand their solidarity with their Pacific neighbours in the context of Pacific climate mobility?
- What trends have been observed in research about Pacific communities on the move for climate-related reasons?
- How do the Tuvaluan and Kiribati communities conceptualise mobility in the context of climate change?
- What are the barriers to and enablers of well-being for I-Kiribati and Tuvlauans in Tāmaki Makaurau?
- What are their priorities for political change that better supports their communities’ needs in the context of climate change?
To answer these, we have conducted four separate studies, as outlined below.
Study One: Systemic Literature Review of the Psychosocial and Cultural Implications of Pacific Climate Mobility
Overview:
Global inaction on climate change is leading many Pacific peoples towards a reality separated from their ancestral lands. Yet, discussions of climate-related mobility often sideline Pacific understandings of wellbeing. This systematic qualitative review synthesizes the literature on the psychosocial and cultural impacts of climate-related mobility in the Pacific and outlines the methods employed in this field.
Methods:
We identified 36 relevant empirical studies from online databases and citations covering 28 cases of climate-related mobility. Our approach assessed studies against the Pacific Health Research Guidelines and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. We conducted a thematic synthesis of qualitative findings.
Analysis:
Social factors influencing acculturation and relationship to land were superordinate themes for both cross-border and internal mobility. Eleven sub-themes were identified as outcomes of cross-border and internal mobility. Overall, climate-related mobility shifted people‘s relationships with their homelands, disrupting community and cultural continuities.
Conclusion:
People resisted disruptions through engaging with cultural practices, values, knowledge, and community life. Yet, even the least disruptive movements caused significant stress, suggesting that Pacific conceptualisations of well-being and land should be considered when developing climate policy.
Study Two: “There’s so much more to that sinking island!” Reframing Migration With Dignity from Tuvalu and Kiribati to Aotearoa New Zealand
Overview:
Many Pacific people are considering cross-border mobility in response to the climate crisis, despite exclusion from international protection frameworks. The ‘Migration with Dignity’ concept facilitates immigration within existing laws but without host government support. Through the metaphor of Pacific navigation, we explore the role of dignity in the lives of I-Kiribati and Tuvaluans in Aotearoa New Zealand
Methods:
Combining talanoa (Pacific research method) with I-Kiribati and Tuvaluan community members, alongside critical community psychology and thematic analysis, we depict climate mobility as a wa or vaka moana (ocean-going canoes) journey.
Analysis:
Participants are expert navigators, navigating immigration obstacles to (re)grow their roots in Aotearoa NZ before charting a course for future generations to thrive. They draw strength from culture and community to overcome the adversity of precarious living and visa non-recognition.
Conclusion:
Reconceptualising climate mobility through a Pacific lens imagines both dignity and cultural preservation as possible, despite the indignities and limitations of socio-political systems and protections for climate migrants.
Study Three: Attitudes towards climate migrants in Aotearoa New Zealand: the roles of climate change beliefs and immigration attitudes
Overview:
As the effects of climate change begin to materialise across Pacific Island nations, many exposed communities are considering migrating away from their homelands. Migrants’ resettlement experiences can depend upon their reception in the host nation. However, it is unclear whether justice-based obligations will influence host attitudes toward climate migrants.
Methods:
Using an online survey of 238 Aotearoa New Zealanders, we explore how beliefs about anthropogenic climate change, climate justice and global responsibility contribute to public attitudes towards climate migrants.
Analysis:
Overall, people thought more positively of immigrants in general than of climate migrants. Through moderated mediation analyses, we observed that people with stronger belief in anthropogenic climate change were more positive towards climate migrants. This pattern was related to people’s beliefs about climate justice and justice-based migration approaches.
Conclusion:
Findings suggest that host perceptions of climate migrants are connected to being aware of the ties between greenhouse gas emissions and migration. We outline anticipated challenges and potential opportunities for both migrant communities and the nations in which they seek refuge.
Study Four: ”Owning the reality of renting the skies”: Youth climate activism and neighbourliness in the context of Pacific climate mobili
Overview:
Aotearoa New Zealand approaches climate change in the Pacific through the lens of supporting its Pacific neighbours. This language of neighbourliness is repeated by the nation’s largely Pākehā/ European-New Zealander (NZer) climate movement, despite being critiqued for ignoring and misrepresenting Indigenous and Pacific issues.
Methods:
Using interviews with young Pākehā/ European NZer climate activists, this chapter explores how Pākehā/ European NZer youth understand solidarity with Pacific activists and their communities when considering the impacts of climate change in the Pacific.
Analysis: Although climate mobility was largely unaddressed by the climate movement, the youth activists used ethical principles inherent to neighbourliness to navigate their inexperience within the issue. Expressions of neighbourliness were grounded in accepting accountability, rethinking hospitality and negotiating relational connectedness.
Conclusion:
These concepts may be valuable for nations hosting climate migrants that seek to foreground climate justice and equitable partnership in their climate mobility strategies.
Policy brief
View the policy brief here.
Drawing upon Pacific navigation traditions, this report and policy brief presents a novel case for a just approach to climate mobility. This approach reduces barriers to resettlement for climate migrants and enhances the likelihood of a warm reception by other New Zealanders (NZers). The findings and suggestions are based upon the first author’s (Dr Olivia Yates’) doctoral thesis and publications about climate mobility from Kiribati and Tuvalu to Aotearoa.
This report advocates for a three-pronged approach:
– Making the journey easier: Reforming existing visa pathways and creating a new climate mobility-specific visa pathway
– Supporting communities to regrow roots: Backing community-led initiatives to ease resettlement burdens, support the maintenance of roots (identity and cultural heritage), and foster community engagement.
– Rewriting the narrative: Developing a communications strategy to educate and prepare New Zealanders for climate mobility from the Pacific.
The report begins by summarising its methods then turns to key findings and policy solution.