Perspectives on Business and Economics, Vol. 40, 2022 63 Introduction By 2100, climate change will force more than 13 million people in the United States to move (Robinson et al., 2020). Climate-driven relocation poses a significant societal challenge due to alteration of long-standing meteorological and topographical conditions. Alaska exemplifies this challenge. There, erosion, flooding, permafrost thaw, and melting sea ice impact the sustainability of Native communities. In 2003, the threats caused by erosion and flooding were estimated to affect 86% of Alaska Native villages (University of Alaska et al., 2019). Certain villages already are facing “climigration,” which is the “forced permanent migration of communities due to climate change” (Hamilton et al., 2016). Native Alaskans generally live in coastal areas. Thus, they are particularly susceptible to climate change and resultant sea rise. Alaskans living in wealthier, more developed, regions do not share this risk. This inequity in degree of climate impact can be viewed as a microcosm of a larger global social justice issue, where the disadvantaged live at the whim of climate change, while people with resources have the means to mitigate its effects. The need for climate relocation is an urgent matter, which many coastal and riverine communities in Alaska are facing without sufficient support. The current climate relocation process for Native Alaskan villages is inefficient and unduly complex. A village case study identifying each component of the relocation process highlights the need for change. The federal government, state government, and Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) can implement changes to streamline this unwieldy process. Background In the 1940s and 1950s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) built schools and required Native Alaskan families to enroll their children to westernize and educate them. The permanence of these schools disrupted the nomadic Native Alaskan practice of moving in harmony CLIMATE RELOCATION IN ALASKA: A FRAMEWORK FOR EFFICIENCY Melissa J. Hertzberg Climate change threatens the sustainability of Native Alaskan villages. The need for climate relocation of certain communities exposes the inefficiencies and complexities of the current framework. This article presents a village case study identifying each component of the relocation process and highlights the needs for improvement. It presents recommendations for relocation methodology and practice in order to streamline the process.
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