There is high agreement among existing studies that immobile populations often have high vulnerability and/or high long-term exposure to climate hazards, and that non-climatic political, economic and social factors within countries may strongly constrain mobility . Section 7.2.6.2 highlighted the particular vulnerability of immobile populations in the face of growing climatic risks. However, research suggests governments should be slow to label such populations as being 'trapped' or to actively promote relocations in the absence of local agreement that in situ adaptation options have been exhausted . In the case of indigenous settlements, efforts made to incorporate traditional knowledge in decision-making and planning increase the potential for longer-term success . Considerable health implications can emerge within populations that are relocated as part of a planned retreat, and represent an important consideration for planners that requires greater research . Organised relocations are not inherently transformative in their outcomes but, depending on the circumstances under which they occur and on how issues of equity and respect for the rights of those affected are implemented, relocation could potentially represent a positive transformation .
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report