Assessing the Nexus of Climate Change, Water Security, and Human Mobility Towards Sustainability
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2026 | Viewed by 85
Special Issue Editors
Interests: climate change; water utilities; governance and regulation; operations research; MCDA and optimization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. RCM2+, Universidade Lusófona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: inequalities in access to water; water security; evaluation of environmental public policies; sustainability indicators; data envelopment analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The nexus between climate change, water, and human mobility is an important challenge that societies around the globe face.
The accelerating impacts of climate change, such as rising temperatures, and more frequent extreme hydrological events, combined with anthropogenic pressures, intensify competition for water resources, increase pollution, and threaten sustainable water management. Consequently, water has become a key driver of forced displacement, with displaced populations often struggling to access water.
The nexus between climate change, water security, and human mobility is closely linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and plays a crucial role in global sustainability. One of the clearest connections is the restriction of access to clean water (SDG 6), affected by climate change (SDG 13), leading to human mobility (understood as including displacement, migration, and planned relocation). Other examples include threats to public health (SDG 3) or the worsening of food insecurity (SDG 2) caused by water scarcity or pollution. Another example is the disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations (SDG 10), which raises concerns about sustainability and climate justice.
This Special Issue aims to explore how human mobility is influenced by water-related challenges, particularly in the context of climate change and sustainable development. Thus, we are interested in the intersection of climate change, water security, and human mobility with the 17 SDGs.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Impacts of extreme hydrological events on human mobility;
- Governance and policy responses to climate-induced mobility;
- Sustainable water, energy, and food systems, and their pressures on human mobility;
- Disproportionate impact of water-related events on vulnerable populations;
- Climate justice, sustainability, and human mobility;
- Interconnections between climate change, water security, human mobility, and the 17 SDGs.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Francisco Silva Pinto
Dr. Tiago Balieiro Cetrulo
Prof. Dr. Rafael De Brito Dias
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- climate change
- human mobility
- water security
- water governance
- sustainable water management
- sustainability
- climate justice
- sustainable development goals (SDGs)
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