Working paper

Slow-Onset Climate Change Impacts in Maldives and Population Movement from Islanders’ Perspective

Author

Robert Stojanov, Barbora Duží, Daniel Němec

Date
April
2017
Abstract:

This study covers outcomes from field research in Maldives, completed in 2013. The research focus is on two main questions. The first deals with islanders’ perceptions of the impacts of climatic variability within the past few years, and whether they maintain the same sense of threat from future climate change. The second question focuses on the issue of out-migration from the islands. It assesses whether migration may be evaluated as an adaptation strategy and whether local people are willing to move outside Maldives to neighboring countries because of projected sea level rise impacts. Mixed methods were used during field research, comprising in-depth qualitative interviews with local stakeholders and quantitative questionnaires among the general islander population, mostly in the capital Malé and nearby islands.