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Panel discussion on Climate Migration an Displacement

Pluralising Climate Mobilities: Moving Beyond the North–South Divide

Abstract: Climate mobility represents one of the most complex challenges of our time, defying simple categorisation and demanding nuanced analysis that transcends traditional geographic and political binaries. This panel critically examines how climate-induced migration and displacement have been conceptualised, governed and experienced across diverse contexts, challenging reductionist North-South framings while acknowledging persistent structural inequalities that shape who moves, who stays and who decides.

Our discussion traverses four interconnected lines of inquiry. First, we interrogate how climate mobility is differently understood and framed across regions, questioning whose knowledge and experiences are privileged in dominant discourses. Second, we examine power asymmetries in climate mobility governance, revealing how historical responsibilities and contemporary politics shape responses to displacement. Third, we explore the limitations of the North-South binary itself, probing how it simultaneously illuminates and obscures complex realities on the ground. Finally, we consider urban destinations as laboratories of climate mobility governance, where starkly different approaches to inclusion and exclusion reflect broader global inequalities.

By bringing together perspectives from West Africa, Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, and Latin America, this panel moves beyond simplistic geographical divides to develop more nuanced understandings of climate mobility that can inform more just and effective responses to one of the defining challenges of our time.

Panel moderator: Andrew Hughes, University of Sheffield 

Panel speakers: 

• Dr. , University of Ghana
• Dr. Vanessa Burns, University of Sheffield
• Prof. Patricia Noschang, RESAMA ()
• Dr. , Royal Holloway