Re-examining (im)mobility within climate and disaster response policies and practices: insights from Uttarakhand, India

Climate policies often fail to capture the complexities of (im)mobile populations and are predominantly biased towards communities that out-migrate. We perform a critical policy analysis of national (India) and subnational (with a focus on Uttarakhand) climate change and disaster response policies to comprehend climate vulnerabilities and their impact on migration. We triangulated the policy texts with the perspectives of various stakeholders, including government officials, media personnel, and local NGOs and inhabitants. This paper analyses how policies recognise, represent, and address climate vulnerabilities, and contributes to discussions on climate change and migration at multiple spatial scales. We identify three key findings: a gap between lived realities and policy recognition; the marginalisation of local knowledge; and the policy denial of climate-induced migration. This paper advances the position that climate policies should address the concerns of (im)mobile communities to meet adaptation goals and provide vulnerable populations with long-term, sustainable solutions.