Climate-Related South–South Migration in the Pacific Islands Region: Assessing Regional, Subregional, and Bilateral Governance Frameworks

Abstract

Abstract

Climate change is reshaping population movements within and between Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), exposing critical gaps in how international migration is understood and governed in the Pacific. This study assesses key regional, subregional, and bilateral agreements in the Pacific to understand how they engage with climate mobility and to identify areas of neglect. It highlights a novel finding: while population movements between Pacific islands are a longstanding reality in the region, existing governance frameworks have so far rarely addressed climate-related South–South migration between PICTs. As a result, the needs of vulnerable receiving communities within PICTs have been largely overlooked in both research and policy. The paper further argues that this oversight reflects broader Global North biases in migration scholarship and governance that continue to shape orthodox understandings of climate-related mobility commonly framed through South to North migration paradigms. By centering South–South dynamics in the Pacific, a region often marginalized in global migration research, this study contributes to efforts to decenter dominant migration frameworks and calls for more inclusive approaches to climate-related migration scholarship and governance that reflect Pacific realities and the perspectives of affected communities.