ABSTRACT
Climate variability and extreme hazard events will require governments to change the ways they perceive and apply social policy to adapt to climate change. Climate change impacts on cities will be felt by vulnerable populations such as migrant workers due to their heightened exposure and limited adaptive capacities. This raises important social justice questions of how to design and implement climate change adaptation in cities. In this context, this chapter applies theories of climate justice to the experience of migrant informal workers in three Indian cities: Surat, Kochi and Mumbai. It explores how a climate justice lens could help to analyse and redress vulnerabilities of migrant workers in the informal sector. This chapter raises two important research concerns. First, it examines the vulnerability contexts and the nature of social protection frameworks that exist with regard to reducing climate change-induced livelihood risks of migrant workers in cities; and second, it examines the characteristics of migrant workers’ individual adaptation strategies in relation to the existing social policy frameworks.
