By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Bhutan is witnessing growing migration from rural areas as climate change is increasingly disrupting traditional livelihoods, according to new research published in the annual journal of Royal Thimphu College.
The study found that while migration in Bhutan is largely driven by economic aspirations, employment opportunities and education, climate change has emerged as a significant “background stressor” making rural life more precarious.
Despite being the world’s first carbon-negative country through its export of clean hydropower energy, Bhutan remains highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, glacial retreat and natural disasters such as floods and landslides.
Researchers found that 138 out of Bhutan’s 205 regions recorded net population loss, with migration largely occurring from the rural eastern districts to urban centres in the western part of the country.
“Bhutan faces two profound existential threats—climate change and demographic change due to people leaving rural areas, or leaving the country entirely,” said Kinley Dorji, a PhD student at the Royal University of Bhutan and affiliated researcher at the University of Exeter.
Dorji said increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and pest infestations were making agriculture more difficult, accelerating depopulation in rural communities.
The study noted that the outmigration of young people has created labour shortages in farming communities, particularly affecting traditional agricultural practices and weakening inter-generational care structures in ageing rural populations.
Researchers also highlighted growing international migration, especially to Australia, where around 67,000 Bhutanese people are estimated to be living. The study described remittances sent back by migrants as an important source of support for rural households and climate resilience.
Professor Jelle Wouters of Royal Thimphu College said the Bhutanese government recognises depopulation and abandoned agricultural land as major obstacles to building resilient rural communities.
“We need to use this research to create pathways for diversifying the economy of rural areas. Such initiatives would ensure that rural outmigration remains a choice for better opportunities, rather than a compulsion for survival,” he said.
The study also pointed to ongoing efforts by the Bhutanese government and local communities to strengthen climate resilience through biodiversity conservation, clean energy initiatives, protection of water sources and nature-based solutions to climate extremes.
Professor Neil Adger of the University of Exeter described abandoned homes in rural Bhutan as “one of the starkest images of climate change”.
The findings were presented at an international science conference held in London on May 19 and 20, alongside related research from Nepal, India and Bangladesh.