From Nairobi to Belém: Putting housing at the heart of climate migration and community resilience

Across Africa and the Global South, climate change is transforming the way communities move, settle, and survive. Droughts, floods, and environmental degradation are pushing families from rural areas into cities at unprecedented rates — and urban informal settlements are absorbing the shock.

In November, Habitat for Humanity contributed to critical conversations shaping the future of climate migration, urban resilience, and community-driven adaptation. The two strategic platforms approached this challenge from complementary angles:

• The MAPS Summer School on Migration and Displacement in Nairobi, organized by AMREF, European Union, University of Sapienza, and partners.
• A COP30 side event in Belém, Brazil, on decentralizing Sanitation for Decent Livelihoods in Rural and Peri-Urban Areas in the Global South, organized by Kenya Water Institute (KEWI), SATO/LIXIL, Global South Climate Initiatives (GSCI), and partners.

Understanding climate migration through the lens of housing and urban informality

At the MAPS Summer School, we joined researchers, policymakers, and practitioners explored migration and displacement dynamics across Sub-Saharan Africa. Discussions focused on refugees, migrants, and internally displaced persons (IDPs), examining how climate, conflict, and economic shocks are driving new patterns of mobility.

One of the findings was that climate migration is increasingly urban, with informal settlements absorbing the people least equipped to cope with environmental and economic pressures. Yet most cities lack adequate affordable housing, inclusive planning frameworks, and policies that integrate climate and migration realities.

Participants noted that informal settlements are experiencing intensified pressures like higher population density, stretched basic services, and increased vulnerability to climate hazards like floods and disease outbreaks. These dynamics are rarely acknowledged in national climate strategies or mitigation plans.

This “policy blindness” leaves millions at risk.

Drawing from our research Slum Blind – Overlooked Links Between Climate Migration and Informal Settlements, we highlighted how climate-driven displacement is accelerating urban migration into already overstretched informal settlements, reinforcing the urgency for integrated housing, climate, and migration policies. We highlighted the need for stronger community-led approaches and improved data to guide more effective and inclusive responses.

Discussions emphasized the need for stronger collaboration across academia, civil society, and development actors — a gap Habitat for Humanity continues to help bridge through research partnerships and advocacy. 

Climate-resilient WASH as a driver of adaptation and livelihoods

At the high-level COP30 side event framed around decentralizing sanitation for decent livelihoods in rural and peri-urban areas in the Global South, we highlighted lessons from our experience in community-led WASH systems in Africa — demonstrating that sanitation technologies and housing interventions succeed only when communities co-design and drive them. WASH was seen as an urgent and often overlooked connection within climate adaptation.

Key takeaways that connect back to the housing agenda included:

• Sanitation is climate adaptation: resilient systems reduce contamination and disease outbreaks during floods, conserve waters during droughts, especially in informal settlements, which are also where climate migrants often live.
• Community-led and behavior-driven design is vital for sustainability and long-term ownership. This aligns with insights from MAPS showing that displaced populations are powerful agents of their own resilience when meaningfully included in planning, governance, and local decision-making.
• Decentralized sanitation can unlock livelihoods, especially for youth and women, through service provision and climate-smart sanitation enterprises.

The invitation to the KEWI–AfDB foundational partnership team to advance decentralized sanitation models across Kenya, Africa, and the broader Global South signals growing recognition of our role in people-centered basic services and climate resilience programming.

The discussions also opened pathways linked to NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions), GCF (Green Climate Fund) mechanisms, AfDB (African Development Bank) financing, and other climate finance streams — positioning Habitat to expand its leadership in climate-resilient WASH.

Conclusion: housing must be recognized as climate infrastructure

Taken together, the Nairobi and Belém engagements highlight a crucial truth:
We cannot advance climate adaptation, manage migration pressures, or build resilient cities without placing housing and basic services at the center. 

As displacement increases and urban populations grow, the need for integrated, community-led, and evidence-based solutions becomes even more urgent.

Habitat for Humanity will continue advocating for housing to be recognized as essential climate infrastructure — and ensuring the voices of vulnerable communities shape the policies and systems that affect their lives.