Planned relocations, disasters and climate change: Consolidating good practices and preparing for the future

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement (Brookings Institution), and Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) organized an expert consultation on Planned Relocation, Disasters and Climate Change: Consolidating Good Practices and Preparing for the Future in Sanremo, Italy, from 12-14 March 2014. This report summarizes proceedings at this consultation, which identified key issues and challenges such as:

• The need for a common understanding of the meaning and content of "planned relocation"
• The use of planned relocation, whether preemptively or remedially, as a form of DRR and CCA
• The compliance of planned relocation with applicable international law, especially when most planned relocation is expected to occur within national borders
• The need to share expertise across sectors, including humanitarian, disaster risk management, human rights, environment and climate change, and urban and regional planning
• The need for practical tools, such as 'how to' and technical guides, action plans and longer-term strategic plans to assist national and regional authorities and actors