The Role of Local Elected Representatives in Addressing the Impact of Climate-Induced Migration

ABSTRACT: People Migrate for multiple reasons. There are various theories associated with Migration. Nowadays, Climate change has emerged as one of the important aspects leading to the migration of people. The effects of climate change at global levels, for instance, a rise in sea level, increasing global temperature, frequent floods, droughts, and earthquakes are making places inhabitable resulting in the movement of individuals from one place to another. Numerous studies have projected that by 2050 around 216 million people across the globe will be displaced due to climate change. This is an alarming situation. Climate-induced migration causes severe impacts not only on the migrant communities but also on the overall development of a country. Various efforts have been made at the international and national levels to address this issue. However, local aspects have never been considered while mitigating climate-induced migration. Policies have been formulated at the intercontinental level to overcome the problem of climate-induced migration. However, the implementation of such policies remains ineffective due to the failure to consider local representation as far as policy formulation is concerned. Under such circumstances, the elected representatives, especially in local governments can play a significant role. They can contribute not just by providing humanitarian assistance to climate migrants, but also by sharing their knowledge about the local realities. Hence, this paper attempts to analyze the issue of climate-induced migration, its impact, and the contribution of local elected representatives to addressing this issue.