In a state already facing a high cost of living and a housing shortage, climate change is impacting where people live and work. The reasons are an interconnected web of environmental, infrastructure, and social issues, according to the report “Climate-Induced Human Displacement and Migration.” It is one of four topical reports released as part of California's Fifth Climate Change Assessment.

The Executive Director of the UC Berkeley School of Law Human Rights Center, Betsy Popken, and the Co-Director of Research of the UC Berkeley Othering & Belonging Institute, Hossein Ayazi, co-authored the report, with authorship support across 10 academic, non-profit and other organizations.

The report describes how the impacts of climate change on migration and displacement vary across nine regions of California. It discusses how the state’s most vulnerable are impacted the most. It identifies gaps in current systems and makes recommendations to increase California’s capacity to handle this critical issue impacting the state’s health.

The report is available for download.