Introduction: Towards a just and inclusive framework for climate (im)mobility

Abstract

This introductory chapter sets the foundation for the Handbook on Climate Mobility by critically examining the evolving nexus between climate change, extreme weather events, disasters, and human mobility. It foregrounds the conceptual, legal, political, and empirical dimensions of climate-induced migration, displacement, planned relocation, and non-migration. It highlights the urgent need to rethink prevailing paradigms of climate mobility in a world marked by rising inequalities, contested terminologies, legal ambiguities and humanitarian injustices. Drawing on Global South perspectives, especially from the most affected regions such as South Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific, the chapter critiques the colonial legacies that still shape the geopolitics of aid, responsibility, and protection. It introduces the conceptual framework of climate (im)mobility, developed by the editors, which covers the full spectrum of human migration, immobility, and involuntary displacement caused by extreme climate events. Encouragingly, recent developments, such as Australia's introduction of a Pacific Engagement Visa for climate migrants from the small island developmental states, signal modest yet promising progress towards shared responsibilities. Finally, this chapter outlines the structure of the Handbook by thematically categorising its contributions and main objectives: to decentralise dominant narratives, amplify diverse voices, and inform future governance, research, and practice. In a fragmented and unjust world, this Handbook aims to serve as a timely intervention and a collective call for the recognition of climate (im)mobility as a critical dimension of climate justice.