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1. Meeting Skill Needs for the Global Green Transition: A Role for Labour Migration?

Author:
Samuel Huckstep and Helen Dempster
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
The green transition will generate an enormous demand for workers. This paper reviews demand for, and supply of, skills relevant to the green transition in five countries in the Global South and five in the Global North. It focuses on the installation and maintenance workforce needed in two sectors: solar photovoltaic panels and heat pumps. It finds that in almost all of the 10 countries studied, supply of the necessary skilled workers is unlikely to meet demand. In particular, Global North countries, which must cut more emissions sooner, face challenges in obtaining sufficient workers against a backdrop of ageing populations. If green transition targets are to be met, migration is likely to be needed as a complement to domestic training and reskilling. Given that the shortage of green-skilled workers is global, however, migration must be accompanied by support for training and retaining workers at home.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Migration, Labor Issues, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. How Donors Can Better Support Urban Refugees in Kampala and Nairobi

Author:
Johnstone Kotut, Anneleen Vos, Helen Dempster, and Harrison Tang
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
The majority of refugees worldwide live in urban areas. It is often assumed that these urban-based refugees are self-reliant, and therefore no longer require external support. This paper challenges this assumption by reviewing secondary literature on the experience of 136,887 refugees who live in Kampala, Uganda and the 96,348 refugees who live in Nairobi, Kenya. It identifies three distinct challenges that these urban-based refugees face compared to their camp- and settlement-based peers: access to essential services without recognised documentation, access to decent housing, and access to social and professional networks. It then reviews whether and how the largest bilateral and multilateral donors in Uganda and Kenya support urban-based refugees, and concludes by offering recommendations for those donors interested in expanding their support. While this paper and its recommendations have specific relevance for those urban-based refugees in Kampala and Nairobi, they have broader relevance to urban refugee populations in all low- and middle-income countries.
Topic:
Migration, Refugees, Displacement, and Donors
Political Geography:
Uganda, Kenya, and Africa

3. Why and How Multilateral Development Banks Support Improved Outcomes for Economic Migrants and Refugees

Author:
Helen Dempster, Martha Guerrero Ble, and Stephanie López Villamil
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Economic migrants and refugees can bring both benefits and costs to their hosting countries. If well-integrated, they can support themselves, their families, and their hosting countries as producers and consumers. Both economic migration and forced displacement are therefore integrally linked with development outcomes. Recognizing this, multilateral development banks (MDBs) are supporting their beneficiary member countries to improve outcomes for economic migrants and refugees, in the form of billions of dollars in grants and loans, as well as technical assistance, policy dialogues, and knowledge exchanges. This paper provides an introductory snapshot of some of the financing instruments, projects, and strategies used; particularly innovative approaches; and challenges MDBs face in expanding their engagement. It is hoped this paper will be useful to anyone who engages with MDBs and wants to understand how they engage on economic migration and forced displacement, particularly as these issues continue to grow in importance.
Topic:
Development, Migration, World Bank, Refugees, and Banking
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Options for Green-Skilled Migration Partnerships: A Guide for Policymakers

Author:
Helen Dempster and Samuel Huckstep
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
The green transition is widely expected to lead to high levels of net job creation, with roles distributed across the pay and skill spectrum. To fill these roles, many countries of destination will need to use migration alongside their domestic labour supply. Yet few countries of origin have enough skilled workers to meet their own green transition targets. As a result, any green-skilled migration facilitated by countries of destination should be linked with investments in the training, recruitment, and retention of workers into ‘green’ jobs within countries of origin. This paper explores three models that link training and migration in a partnership framework—fixed-term migration; Global Skill Partnerships; and migration with parallel investments—to maximise both economic development and carbon reduction benefits. For each model, the paper outlines key considerations that should be taken into account along with a worked example. It also includes a "guide," walking policymakers through the different models to understand which would best meet the needs of countries of origin, countries of destination, and employers.
Topic:
Economics, Migration, Economic Development, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. A Win-Win: Migration Partnerships for an Aging EU Workforce

Author:
Helen Dempster, Pete Baker, and Samuel Huckstep
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
European Union (EU) member states have ambitious green transition targets and healthcare strategies in place, requiring the relevant sectors to expand. Yet these sectors are already suffering from large workforce shortages. Expanding skilled migration from third countries to the EU to meet these shortages risks stripping countries of origin of the talent they need for their own goals. Any skilled migration therefore needs to be pursued within partnerships which prioritise meaningful benefits to the country of origin to combat “brain drain”, a “win-win” policy solution. This can be done through the Global Skill Partnership model, wherein the country of destination pays for the training of workers within the country of origin, some of whom migrate. While migration is a member state competence, there is real opportunity for the incoming European Commission to make a global difference in three ways: (1) expand funding for pilot projects; (2) support the development of new partnerships; and (3) be a positive voice for the role of skilled migration.
Topic:
Migration, European Union, Skilled Labor, European Commission, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Making Migration Work for Adaptation: Classifying Remittances as Climate Finance

Author:
Samuel Huckstep and Jonathan Beynon
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Labour migration programmes targeted towards climate-vulnerable populations can provide transformative finance, raising household incomes and allowing adaptation. Current flows of adaptation finance are highly insufficient. Mobilisation of private adaptation finance is very low, despite commitments to increase mobilisation. Targeted labour migration programmes can leverage private adaptation finance at a high level of efficiency. Incentivising the selection of migrant labour from communities most vulnerable to climate change by counting a portion of their remittance flows as mobilised private climate finance may therefore have significant benefits.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Migration, Adaptation, and Remittances
Political Geography:
Global Focus

7. Climate Change and Migration: An Overview for Policymakers and Development Practitioners

Author:
Samuel Huckstep and Michael Clemens
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Climate change will have major ramifications for migration at every level: domestic, regional, and international. While most migration affected by climate change will be internal, the international system is unprepared and inadequate for the needs that will arise. This brief reviews issues faced in the governance of climate-affected migration at the internal, regional, and international levels and proposes policy actions in numerous spheres of action. Additional details are available in the related paper.
Topic:
Climate Change, Migration, Refugees, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. Pathways for Labor Migration from Northern Central America: Five Difficult but Necessary Proposals

Author:
Michael A. Clemens
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Very few labor-based pathways for regular migration are available for people in Northern Central America, often called the “Northern Triangle” of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. This paper briefly summarizes the state of labor-based migration channels in the region. It then argues that extending those channels is a necessary complement to asylum reform even for the goal of humanitarian protection. It concludes by arguing that five recommendations for long-term reform, though difficult, are needed to unleash the maximum shared benefit of these pathways.
Topic:
Migration, Labor Issues, Asylum, and Immigration Policy
Political Geography:
Central America, North America, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador

9. Do Cash Transfers Deter Migration?

Author:
Michael A. Clemens
Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Conditional Cash Transfers are increasingly used by development aid agencies to reduce the incentives for migration from low-income countries. The evidence to date suggests that such transfers typically increase the rate of migration when they are conditional on investment, such as investment in education. They do this primarily by facilitating acquisition of human capital and by lowering capital constraints—increasing both migration aspirations and the means to achieve them. But with certain design features, particular transfer programs have reduced the incentive to migrate. Broadly speaking, migration can be deterred by transfer programs that are conditional on presence in the origin country—provided that the condition is strict, targeted, and lengthy.
Topic:
Economics, Migration, Finance, and Investment
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. Why and How Development Agencies Facilitate Labor Migration

Author:
Helen Dempster and Beza Tesfaye
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Development agencies in high-income countries spend a large amount of both official development assistance (ODA) and other forms of financing on migration programming. While most of this spending is aimed at deterring migration, increasingly more is being focused on facilitating migration: to the high-income country itself; within and between low- and middle-income countries; and supporting people on the move and the diaspora. This paper, written by the Center for Global Development and Mercy Corps, aims to explore why and how development agencies in high-income countries facilitate labor, or economic, migration, and how they have been able to justify and expand their mandate in this area. Based on interviews with nine development agencies, we find that development agencies use a range of arguments to justify their work in this area, including supporting economic development and poverty reduction in partner countries while also meeting labor market demands at home or other countries. Yet expanding a mandate in this area requires substantial cross-government coordination and political buy-in, both of which are difficult to achieve. It also requires the ability to be able to use ODA to facilitate labor migration, which is currently up for debate. As development agencies seek to expand their work on labor migration, it will be necessary to define shared goals and start with pilot projects that focus on low-hanging fruit, while maintaining a focus on development and poverty reduction.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Diaspora, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Global Focus