This policy brief is based on the qualitative study ‘Migration as Adaptation or Distress? A Qualitative Study of Climate Impacts in Nepal’s Hilly and Terai Regions’, which investigated how climate change acts as a powerful driver of migration within Nepal’s Hilly and Terai regions. Based on qualitative research on five districts (Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, Khotang, Sunsari, and Rupandehi), the study discovered that migration is driven by an intersection of environmental stressors, including extreme droughts, floods, and water scarcity, with deep-rooted socio-economic vulnerabilities. Central to this intersection is the reality that environmental degradation operates as a severe threat multiplier in these regions.1 It rarely drives displacement in isolation. Instead, it compounds existing structural deficiencies, systemic poverty, weak local governance, and poor public services. While wealthy households can strategically deploy migration as a forward looking adaptation tool, marginalized families are routinely forced into distress outmigration following the absolute collapse of resource dependent rural livelihoods.
यो नीति संक्षेप ‘बसाइँसरार्र्ईः अनुकूलन वा बाध्यता ? नेपालको पहाडी र तराई क्षेत्रहरुमा जलवायु प्रभावहरूको एक गुणात्मक अध्ययन’ मा आधारित छ । संखुवासभा, भोजपुर, खोटाङ, सुनसरी र रुपन्देही जिल्लामा गरिएको अध्ययनले जलवायु परिवर्तन र आन्तरिक बसाइँसरार्ईबीचको सम्बन्धलाई विश्लेषण गरेको छ ।
