Conclusion: Policy reflections on slow-onset climate mobility and the importance of the governance variable

Drawing on findings in the previous chapters, this chapter recaps the insights relevant for policy makers and practitioners. It reiterates that climate change alone does not cause mobility and nor does migration automatically translate into climate adaptation practices. Interventions should therefore be sensitive to established migration patterns and changes in these, including who migrates, under what conditions and for the benefit of whom. ‘Silo’ and sector-specific thinking should be abandoned and substituted with attention to, on the one hand, demographic factors such as age, gender, class, rural/urban location and social networks, and, on the other hand, local governance and the degree to which these are adequately resourced.