Authors : Rijjul Madaan , Danusri J , Saanvi Srivastava , Ochia Mathew Chidike , Richik Ghosal , Ritvik Sharma
Citation :
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Abstract
Climate change is reshaping where and how vulnerable communities are able to live, while unequal access to mobility, energy and adaptive resources shapes their capacity to respond. This paper thus attempts to ask; what are the interconnected impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities, and how can integrated policy interventions leverage emerging technologies to advance equitable climate adoption? It draws on a collaborative section based qualitative analysis of government, UN, and academic secondary sources, and examines climate-induced migration through Sundar Sarukkai’s framework of lived experience freedoms; to be a part of, to leave, and to modify an environment. This exhibits how caste, gender,and household wealth can shape who is able to migrate, who is left behind as a “trapped population”, and who benefits from remittance- funded adaptation. It then traces how the same structural inequality shapes energy insecurity in India, and by means of a comparative case study, in Nigeria, where climate driven mobility redistributes rather than resolves energy demand. The paper thus evaluates the capacity of emerging technologies; GIS, remote sensing, digital twins, and artificial intelligence, to move adaptation planning across tangents from being reactive in nature to anticipatory in practice. It however also acknowledges that technological maturity is consistently outpaced by institutional and data constraints, and AI governance introduces its own risks around bias, privacy, and accountability that must be managed alongside its benefits. Synthesising these findings, the paper proposes an integrated policy framework of five interdependent pillars; vulnerability mapping, mobility planning, climate energy planning, anticipatory technology governance, and equitable AI governance. These, put together, argue that equitable adaptation depends less on developing new technology than on embedding it within functioning, accountable and public centred institutions.
Keywords: Climate-induced migration; Energy insecurity; Emerging technologies; AI governance; Climate adaptation policy; Vulnerable communities; India–Nigeria comparative analysis