Editorial:
Special Issue on Migration, Dignity, Fragility, and Pandemics 2025
Ryo Fujikura* and Daisuke Sasaki**
*Faculty of Sustainability Studies, Hosei University
Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
**International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
This special issue presents a study on atoll countries vulnerable to climate change. The average elevation of these countries is only approximately 2 m above sea level. Therefore, as sea levels rise, the only possible adaptation measures would be to build large-scale infrastructure, such as artificial islands, or to migrate to other countries. This study focuses on three of the world’s four atoll countries: the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati. We analyzed residents’ attitudes toward and the costs associated with artificial island construction and land reclamation.
In the Maldives, where the construction of artificial islands is already underway, we examined the motivations for migration to these islands and the satisfaction levels after migration. The findings revealed that those who migrated from Malé, the capital, and a densely populated area, were more satisfied with their lives after migration, whereas those who migrated from other atolls reported lower levels of satisfaction. In addition, high costs of living, rent, and housing were barriers to migration.
In the Marshall Islands and Kiribati, which do not have artificial islands such as those in the Maldives, we conducted a causal analysis of religious, cultural, and educational factors affecting residents’ perceptions of climate change. In both countries, education has a universal impact on climate change awareness, however, the manner in which it affects people varies between the two. In the Marshall Islands, education-related variables are relatively isolated, whereas in Kiribati, variables related to education, religion, and culture form a complex network that influences each other.
A survey of college students in the Marshall Islands revealed that young people were highly aware of climate change and strongly desired to migrate. However, many expressed a desire to preserve Marshallese culture and way of life, and opinions on the construction of artificial islands were divided.
An analysis of the cost-effectiveness of adaptation measures, such as building protective infrastructure and raising land to address the vulnerability of coastal areas in the Marshall Islands, revealed that the amount of funding required to implement effective adaptation measures would far exceed the country’s economic strength. Moreover, the cost of major protective measures would be several to ten times the GDP. Despite assessing from a disaster risk reduction perspective, many adaptation measures were found to have a cost-benefit ratio of less than one.
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