Tools to Finance Climate Mobility: An Introduction to the Symposium

In this edition of AJIL Unbound, we start with good news: in the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund at the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28, in 2023), states took a significant step forward toward funding solutions for climate mobility. 1This reflects the immense need generated by large scale human displacement connected to the impacts of climate change.The next steps include realizing these commitments, expanding on them, and ensuring that we spend the money effectively in ways that enhance outcomes for those most affected.This volume seeks to provide evidence from practitioners and academics alike on how to finance climate mobility effectively.Migration is one key way that humans adapt to a changing environment. 2Research suggests that, by 2070, one to three billion people are projected to be left outside the climate conditions that have served humanity for the past six thousand years. 3Of course, not all of these people will migrate, and amongst those who do, many will migrate within their country of origin.Prominent scholars note that it is hard to be accurate in predicting climaterelated mobility, as we do not know how, when, and where people will move, nor do we know what adaptive technologies will emerge that allow some people to stay in place. 4Yet even if we accept the low estimates, the numbers dwarf the record displacement highs seen from conflict in recent decades.Meanwhile, the legal framework-developed for conflict-driven displacement and economic migration-is ill-suited to the challenges ahead and needs innovation and evolution. 5 The urgency of the issue demands that we work toward solutions, and so this edition aims to provide evidence on how climate mobility financing can work.There are gaps between those who focus on climate change, and those who focus on migration and displacement.Likewise, policymakers and academics cleave apart when analyzing various forms of climate displacement and proposing solutions.Even terminology itself is not settled-while the term "climate refugees" is generally considered legally inaccurate, many stakeholders use other interchanging terms.This volume strives to close those gaps, drawing from on-the-ground research,