Navigating the Nexus: Climate Change, Overfishing, and Migration Dynamics in Cape Verde - Why Aspirations and Capabilities Matters?

Climate change constitutes an interconnected and existential threat to the oceans, fisheries, and livelihoods reliant on them, with Cape Verde being exceptionally vulnerable. Rising sea levels and biodiversity and marine ecosystems loss, exacerbated by overfishing leave the archipelago in a state of action emergency. While research often focus on the mitigation of overfishing as climate action, its impact on driving migration as a cause, albeit not a direct one has yet to be explored. Migration in Cape Verde is driven by aspirations for a better life, deviating from traditional associations with conflict or poverty. Mobility is strongly intertwined with identity and development, nevertheless aspirations to migrate often clash with economic, legal, and geopolitical constraints, leading to involuntary immobility or irregular migration.

The present paper, part of a doctoral research project, examines the relationship between environmental degradation and migration in Cape Verde, focusing on the impacts of overfishing and climate change. By applying Carling's (Carling 2014) and Haas's (de Haas 2021) frameworks, the study explores how these environmental stressors shape both the desire and ability to migrate. Cape Verde’s historical ties to Europe, long history of emigration and economic dependence on marine resources, combined with the EU's increasingly restrictive immigration policies and the financial strains of environmental degradation, the capabilities and abilities of Cape Verdeans to migrate through regular channels are reduce, leading to a rise in irregular migration.

The paper argues that understanding the nexus of aspirations, capabilities, and abilities in the context of environmental change is crucial for developing more effective migration policies.