Climate-Migration Policy Landscape in Central Asia: Cases of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan
摘要
This chapter explores the complex nexus between climate change and human mobility in Central Asia, focusing on Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan as illustrative case studies. With rising temperatures, desertification, and glacial retreat, the region is becoming a climate hotspot, intensifying both internal and cross-border migration. Drawing on vulnerability and resilience frameworks, the chapter highlights how climate change acts as a threat multiplier—exacerbating poverty, gender inequality, and governance gaps. It critically examines migration patterns, immobility, and policy failures in addressing the environmental drivers of displacement. The chapter emphasizes that migration in this context is not solely an economic response but a reflection of ecological stress, structural vulnerabilities, and uneven adaptive capacities. It concludes by identifying key gaps in legal, institutional, and regional frameworks and calls for an integrated governance approach to address climate-migration dynamics.