The Australian government has been advised to create a new visa category to allow Pacific Islanders to relocate permanently to Australia in order to mitigate the impact of climate change. The recommendation was detailed in a recent policy paper published by the University of New South Wales’(UNSW) Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law.

The report’s authors Jane McAdam and Jonathan Pryke argue that adaptation alone is insufficient in the case of the many Pacific islands threatened by increasingly frequent and severe weather events as a result of climate change. They also stress that the proposed 3,000-per-year relocation target is far from radical, representing just a “drop in the ocean” in terms of displaced persons. 

"If you look at where the trajectory is, unless you have major changes in mitigation and adaptation efforts, we're likely to see more displacement occurring." - Jane McAdam

According to reports, Jonathan Pryke thinks “relocating even a small number of people on a voluntary basis would help ease pressure on vulnerable countries.”

Australia’s Department of Home Affairs declined to respond to a question posed by Australia’s national broadcaster regarding a new visa scheme, instead offering a generic commitment to existing migration pathways open to Pacific Islanders.

This UNSW policy paper involves many important issues, but perhaps the most obvious is its timely reminder that dealing with the impacts of climate change requires a multifaceted approach. While mitigation efforts, such as emissions reduction, are important, the impacts of climate change are severe enough to require adaptation as well, especially in small-island states. Policy recommendations like the UNSW report’s proposed visa scheme must be pursued alongside mitigation strategies if we are serious about addressing the climate crisis. 

Despite activists and policymakers discussing relocation of Pacific Islanders for at least a decade, the current government’s record of inaction is not reassuring. When bushfires raged across New South Wales and Queensland in last December, scientists said they were “bewildered” by the lack of focus on the climate crisis by politicians. This was over a year after a joint Medical Journal of Australia-Lancet report warned that Australian inaction on climate change was a public health threat. (ABC News - Australian Broadcasting Corporation)