Policy Brief No.157: Pacific Community Relocations: Comparing Relocation Efforts in Alaska and Pacific

New village site for Newtok, Alaska. Photo supplied by the author

This Policy Brief compares communities in Alaska and the Pacific Islands, which are worlds apart in many ways, yet share cascading impacts from climate change. Communities in both geographies that may want to relocate have limited resources to do so without external assistance. Each country should have policies in place to provide assistance for community-led relocation based on the preferences, knowledge, and values of the affected communities. The private sector and churches could also play an important role. In many ways, relocation processes on Pacific Islands are more sophisticated than those in Alaska, and the United States could learn from the Pacific experience.