The tantalizing idea of climate migration to the Great Lakes region has been a fixture of Beth Gibbons’ climate adaptation work throughout the past five years. Over that time, she has participated in interviews with regional and national news organizations and published op-eds, and peer reviewed papers and reports, all in an effort to galvanize conversions on the necessary to prepare for this economic and demographic climate impact and to identify what perils and opportunities are waiting for us if we are willing to adapt or not. 

A newly released book by Abrahm Lustgarten and a companion article in the Atlantic, features an interview between him and Beth back in 2021. Re-reading the interview and preparing for a new round of interviews on this topic, she has been reflecting on what has changed and what remains the same about her opinions, perspectives and experience addressing climate migration over the past several years. Here are her observations:

1. She stresses that it is about the entire cycle. That includes where people leave and where people go. Working on this issue has reinforced for her that we cannot limit conversations based on ‘sending’ or ‘receiving’ communities. Rather conversations, policies and interventions need to consider the entire migration process. 
2. Related to point one is that we need to resist narratives of winners and losers, and recognize climate impacts and their effect on our interconnected national and global  economy. Additionally, ‘climate havens’ or receiving communities, should be collaborating and sharing model policies and programs that build welcoming places and effective natural resource stewardship. 
3. More than ever, it is about leading with equity and deep empathy. Conversations about climate migration are conversations full of grief. Whether it is the loss of home that those who are choosing to move are experiencing or it is the change that receiving communities are going through in their own demographics, economics and even climate, these shifts are difficult and that cannot be overlooked or underestimated. 
4. Most places remain underprepared for all impacts of climate change, but especially are slow to consider climate driven economic and demographic change. In order to move toward more equitable futures, and for communities to minimize loss and maximize benefits it is necessary to begin work today imagining the future we want and be ready to put into place the policies and programs that will enable that future to emerge. 
5. We’re drawn to looking at the latest census data to understand these shifts, but we must also watch signals from industry. Companies and industry sectors seeking an abundance of water, fertile land, and secure port access are likely to be early movers. Being aware of those industry changes can help inform the types of policies we need in order to prepare for economic and industrial changes, while caring for the people and natural assets.

Lustgarten’s new book includes a bold quote from Beth, “There’s no future in which many, many people don’t head here”. Beth shares that she has “had to sit with that quote for the last few days, reflecting on whether or not she is still so bullish on climate driven migration. She concludes, yes, the more we learn about the climatic tipping points, the more we experience climate fueled storms, and the more we see the quiet exit of insurance from high risk markets, the more certain it looks that people will be forced into motion. But those “push” factors are only part of the story. Happily, there is incredible progress happening to prepare communities – and states for a new climate future!  This is especially true in her home state of Michigan, but it is happening in other states too. There are programs that are building the clean energy workforce, growing innovative and green technologies, using nature based solutions to curb the impacts of climate change, and transferring decision making authority and power to Tribes and community organizations. 

Beth is committed to helping to create the low carbon, climate resilient future so many of us are working to create. She helps to lead these initiatives at Farallon Strategies where she is the Social Governance and National Resilience Lead. She was the Founding Executive Director of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals, she served on the search committee hire the inaugural executive director of the Climigration Network; she organized one of the first large-scale climate and demography workshops in the United States, focused on bringing together the science of climate change and demography to create useable interdisciplinary resources that decision makers can and would be willing to use. She has published peer reviewed papers on understanding how communities across the Midwest consider climate migration as an opportunity, and contributed to the traceable accounts pointing out the lack of literature on climate induced migration in the Midwest in the 5th National Climate Assessment. While expertise is fleeting in a field as yet nascent and iterative as climate adaptation – or even climate migration – Beth has worked diligently to carve out an expert space and works even more diligently to continue learning and adapting her understanding of this complex topic. Connect with Beth: beth@farallonstrategies.com