Migration transforms the conditions for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: W Neil Adger, Emily Boyd, Anita Fábos, Sonja Fransen, Dominique Jolivet, George Neville, Ricardo Safra de Campos, Marjanneke J Vijge
Journal: The Lancet Planetary Health (2019)

Migration is transformative both for those who move and for the places and economies of source and destination. The global stock of migrants, depending on definition, is approximately 750 million people: to assume that the world is static and that migration is a problem to be managed is inaccurate. Since migration is a major driving force of planetary and population health, we argue that it must be more directly incorporated into planning for sustainable development, with a focus on the extent and way in which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) incorporate the transformative reality of migration. The science of migration explains social and demographic dynamics, with human mobility as the norm rather than as a discrete event.1Heller M Urry J The new mobilities paradigm.Environ Plann A. 2006; 38: 207-226Crossref Scopus (3420) Google Scholar Flows of ideas, remittances, and social capital from migration, for example, play a central role in transforming economic as well as social and political life in places of origin and destination. Migration is, therefore, an intrinsic part of social transformation2De Haas H Migration and development: a theoretical perspective.Int Migr Rev. 2010; 44: 227-264Crossref PubMed Scopus (816) Google Scholar that occurs in parallel and in combination with other societal trends, including many that are the explicit focus of the SDGs. Migration processes can have positive and negative effects on social transformation.3Massey DS Social structure, household strategies, and the cumulative causation of migration.Popul Index. 1990; 56: 3-26Crossref PubMed Scopus (796) Google Scholar There are widespread concerns, for example, regarding the effect of rapid urbanisation driven by migration on the sustainable use of resources in cities. However, migrant populations have been shown throughout the world to be on average healthier and more economically active than host populations, at least with current migration patterns.4Hunter LM Simon DH Might climate change the "healthy migrant" effect?.Glob Environ Change. 2017; 47: 133-142Crossref PubMed Scopus (9) Google Scholar From an economic perspective, migration is often a driver of economic growth: whether economic growth is itself sustainable thus becomes the key question. The discourse of migration in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reflects the global political tensions surrounding the issue of migration at the time of its negotiations, culminating in 2015, when many countries, particularly in Europe, experienced major influxes of refugees from Syria and other conflict-affected countries.5Nijenhuis G Leung M Rethinking migration in the 2030 Agenda: towards a de-territorialized conceptualization of development.Forum Dev Stud. 2017; 44: 51-68Crossref Scopus (19) Google Scholar, 6Holliday J Hennebry J Gammage S Achieving the sustainable development goals: surfacing the role for a gender analytic of migration.J Ethn Migr Stud. 2019; 45: 2551-2565Crossref Scopus (24) Google Scholar In effect, the 2030 Agenda frames migration as a temporary and unplanned phenomenon that needs to be managed, rather than as an inherent and longstanding part of sustainable development and social transformation. The table documents how sedentary framing of development leads to the relevant current goals, targets, and indicators within the SDGs.TableFraming of migration in the 2030 Agenda, with relevant goals, targets, and indicatorsTargets and indicatorsRelevant insights from migration scienceMigration as temporaryGoal 10: Reduced inequalitiesArticle 29: underlines the rights of migrants to return to their country of origin.Indicator 10.7.2: migration policies that facilitate "orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people". Focus on granting permission of temporary stays of forcibly displaced people, agreements on readmission, and monitoring of visa overstays.Migration as inherent and long-standing part of development and social transformation, including migrants as a source of innovation, economic growth, and cultural diversity.Demographic reality of migrants as healthy and economically active.Migration enhances development of country of origin through remittancesGoal 17: Partnerships for the goalsTarget 17.3: mobilise financial resources for developing countries by increasing volume of remittances (indicator 17.3.2).As above.Goal 10: Reduced inequalitiesTarget 10.c: reduce costs and barriers to remittances (indicator 10.c.1).As above.Migration as international and often labour-relatedGoal 10: Reduced inequalitiesIndicator 10.7.2: migration policies that facilitate "orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people". Focus on "non- nationals", immigration and emigration, cooperation among countries, and people "displaced across international borders".Incorporation of the more prevalent form of migration: internal movements within a country as dominant form globally.Development as sedentaryGoal 11: Sustainable cities and communities.Goal 13: Climate actionNo explicit reference to migration or mobility in targets 11.3, 11.a, and 11.b, which call for inclusive urbanisation, sustainable human settlement planning and positive socioenvironmental links between urban, peri-urban, and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning and disaster risk reduction strategies.No explicit reference to migration or mobility in targets 13.1, 13.2, and 13.b, despite including a focus on small island developing states.Permanent and temporary migration as key aspect of climate resilience and social transformation. For example: i) movement to urban areas increases pressure on urban infrastructure and governance; ii) permanent displacement and relocation of populations from places at risk, including from small island developing states. Open table in a new tab Within the SDGs, migration is recognised as a "multidimensional reality" that is of "major relevance for the development of countries of origin, transit and destination" (2030 Agenda, article 29). Migrants are acknowledged as able to make a "positive contribution" to inclusive growth (article 29), but the SDGs seem to refer mostly to benefits in the country of origin in the form of remittances from international labour migrants. Remittances, indeed, play a crucial economic role in countries with high international outmigration, but with significant social consequences such as so-called brain drain effects. Overall, the 2030 Agenda, and specifically the SDGs on sustainable cities and climate action, have a static concept of human populations, de-emphasising permanent and temporary migration as a key aspect of sustainable development, climate resilience, and social transformation. Where migration is considered to "threaten to reverse much of the development progress", the 2030 Agenda focuses on the "eradication" of human trafficking (article 27, and targets 5.2, 8.7, and 16.2), as well as "temporary" stays of forcibly displaced people (indicator 10.7.2). Such a framing of climate migration fails to consider migration as a long-term contribution to climate resilience and adaptation.7Gemenne F Blocher J How can migration serve adaptation to climate change? Challenges to fleshing out a policy ideal.Geogr J. 2017; 183: 336-347Crossref Scopus (76) Google Scholar Incorporating realistic scientific insights on migration and mobility would, we suggest, identify the conditions under which migration could contribute to positive outcomes for many arenas of sustainability, from disaster preparedness, to health and nutrition, and to safe and sustainable cities. SDG 11 seeks to promote safe, sustainable, and resilient cities, for example, but its indicators need to reflect the reality of how urbanisation is driven by population movement to cities. A target of SDG 11 is to minimise the "proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing". However, the persistence of slum areas is driven by continued movement of new migrants to cities. In many cities in developing countries, more than half of residents are lifetime migrants. Migrant populations cluster in areas that are exposed to environmental hazards and have been shown to have uneven access to public health and other services and discriminated in labour markets.8Black R Bennett SR Thomas SM Beddington JR Climate change: Migration as adaptation.Nature. 2011; 478: 447-448Crossref PubMed Scopus (528) Google Scholar Therefore, the realisation of urban sustainability is intimately tied to the effectiveness and rapidity of integration of new populations into urban planning. SDG 13 on climate action does not make an explicit connection between nations most vulnerable to climate change and increased migration flows, and thus underplays the opportunity to protect or acknowledge the adaptive role played by mobile populations. More than 25 million people per year are displaced internally or internationally by weather-related disasters. Involuntary and forced migration, not least through climate change, represents a breach of rights and is likely to have significant detrimental health outcomes.9McMichael C Barnett J McMichael AJ An ill wind? Climate change, migration, and health.Environ Health Perspect. 2012; 120: 646-654Crossref PubMed Scopus (170) Google Scholar, 10Levy BS Patz JA Climate change, human rights, and social justice.Ann Glob Health. 2015; 81: 310-322Crossref PubMed Scopus (181) Google Scholar It has been shown in diverse settings that migrants contribute by filling key skill gaps, increase the consumption and production of goods and services, and improve local labour market efficiency, particularly in times of crisis or disaster. Migrants also support the resilience and wellbeing of origin communities through financial and social remittances. Rather than harnessing the potential of such interactions, the state-oriented nature of the targets and current indicators associated with SDG 13 implicitly sidesteps migration. Incorporating the potentially social transformative nature of migration into policy and planning for sustainable development would better reflect the reality of a mobile world. A more encompassing view of migration would, we argue, lead to more appropriate targets and indicators for the SDGs. For example, target indicators could, for SDG 11 on urban areas, include the number of migrants entering informal economic sectors: such migration is most often associated with discrimination and precarity in cities. Additionally, SDG 13 on climate action could monitor regulations across countries for government-led relocation of communities (such relocation is likely to become more widespread into the future). A comprehensive set of targets and indicators would present better opportunities to deal with pressing challenges of social transformations, including ageing populations and declining birth rates in many countries. In summary, the SDGs need to move beyond the implicit assumption that sedentary lives are the norm and that it is only safe, orderly, and regular migration that contributes to sustainable development. We suggest that, when migration is incorporated as an inherent and continuing part of social transformations, it will become central to long-term climate resilience and adaptation. We declare no competing interests. Funding for this work was provided by the Belmont Forum Transformation to Sustainability programme under the UK Economic and Social Research Council (grant ES/S007687/1), the University of Exeter European Network Fund, and the European Research Council (grant agreement 648496) Migration as Development project.