As rising temperatures, intensifying storms, increased flooding, and land degradation impact communities, residents in vulnerable areas are navigating difficult questions: Do they stay and adapt, or should they leave? Yet, the issue may not just come down to those two rigid binaries.
In a commentary in Nature Climate Change co-authored by Brianna Castro , assistant professor of urban sustainability, an international team of scientists argue that many people affected by climate change don't fit neatly into the "move" or "stay" dichotomy. Instead, individuals and families are drawing on intergenerational ties, social networks, cultural roots and identity to navigate risks and plan for the future. They may relocate temporarily or seasonally, instead of a permanent move. The researchers identified this alternative as "tethered resilience," in which climate impacts are secondary in the decision to migrate compared to economic, social, cultural, and demographic factors.
"This concept really flips the script and narrative on climate migration," Castro said. "People are complex. They have social forces, economic forces, ideas and goals for their future, and the decision to say or go is woven into all these factors. They are actively choosing to stay in a climate-impacted area, not because they are trapped, but because they are deeply tethered."
The paper cited several examples:
- In Fiji, families voluntarily stay in climate-vulnerable coastal areas, but also actively plan for generational retreat in which their children will move inland and build homes on higher ground.
- In Guatemala, where climate change is intensifying risks of drought and crop failure, younger residents view local economic initiatives as a strategy to improve the future so they can continue to reside there.
- In rural Bangladesh, women, who are tied to their location because of traditional gender roles, are engaging in resilience-building activities such as community farming, and home-based enterprises.
The paper refutes the myth that people are moving in larger waves and that staying in place is a failure to adapt. Instead, the scientists point to four specific issues that shape decisions about the future. They are: the presence (or absence) of opportunities for individuals and families to blend ancestral practices with innovation that can help advance climate adaptation efforts; cultural values that focus on sustaining heritage; whether governments and institutions are providing support for adaptation through infrastructure, land rights, and access to credit; and structural inequalities that present unique challenges to marginalized groups.
People are complex. They have social forces, economic forces, ideas and goals for their future, and the decision to say or go is woven into all these factors."
Brianna Castro Assistant Professor of Urban Sustainability
"What the world needs to know is that many people don't just 'move away or give up.' Instead, they try to adapt in mixed ways," said Bishawjit Mallick, associate professor at the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Utrect and the lead author on the paper. "Mobility plus rootedness becomes a third path, a strategy for future-making under risk. By framing resilience in this tethered way, the concept broadens what climate adaptation could mean… and helps policymakers and researchers think about flexible, context-specific solutions."
Tethered resilience reorients adaptation into a dynamic, proactive process that transcends limitations, the researchers note.
"I hope that this information encourages institutions to invest in social infrastructure and networks that underscore the right to stay and adapt in place," Castro said. "People's attachment to land, identity, and community matters."
