Community-led relocations and the use of buyouts as an adaptation toclimate change-induced flooding and erosion

THE ISSUE. Climatic changes, sea level rise, and repetitive flooding (Figure 1) act in concert with social and political drivers such as colonial histories, inequitable distribution of shoreline armament and other hazard mitigation technology, and lack of political and economic capital, which together may lead to the displacement of communities along the coastal U.S. How this process of relocation happens can determine if people will be subject to increased or decreased risk, either of which may occur in place or through inequitable relocation processes.

WHY IT MATTERS. While relocation away from the coastline may be necessary, there is less understanding of the social impacts of these relocations. Studies of development-induced displacement show long-term negative social consequences as an outcome of forced relocation and displacement. It is therefore highly likely that climate and disaster policy that does not explicitly mitigate for negative social outcomes of displacement will create new risks for displaced peoples. Among communities with high levels ofsocial capital and histories of forced displacement via government intrusion, such as among Indigenous peoples, there is an even greater risk that policy mechanisms that disrupt ties to land and community will violate human rights and may undermine tribes’ rights to self-determination and tribal sovereignty. [Read more at Arctic, Antarctic, & Alpine Research.]