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DoctorDalila Gharbaoui

Adjunct Professor of Practice

Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies

  • Adjunct Professor of Practice
    Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies
  • +6433691800 (Work)

BIO

Dr. Dalila Gharbaoui is Adjunct Research Fellow and UNFCCC focal point at the University of Canterbury. IPCC author for the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities, part of the Seventh Assessment Cycle (AR7). Previously Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Canterbury under the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded Pacific Ocean and Climate Crisis Assessment. She holds a PHD in Political and Social Sciences from University of Liege (Hugo Observatory on Environmental Migration) and a PHD in Pacific studies from University of Canterbury gained with the support of the Marsden Fund Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden. Dalila’s PhD thesis focused on climate-related (im)mobility and land governance in the Pacific region.

 
Dr. Gharbaoui is a recognized researcher specializing in climate mobility, planned relocation, community‑led adaptation, and Pacific climate governance and cities. With 18 years of applied research and policy experience, she brings a strong focus on climate justice, displacement, and locally led adaptation frameworks, working at the intersection of academic research and local government practice. Dalila’s work emphasises dignity‑based approaches to mobility, participatory approaches to equity‑centred adaptation, and the role of  women and informal actors as early adaptation champions. She has contributed to national and regional adaptation initiatives as lead researcher and she plays active roles in regional forums such as Adaptation Futures 2025, where she facilitates workshops and leads discussions on planned relocation and self‑determined mobility pathways. She served as lead consultant for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for the development of the UNFCCC technical guide on averting, minimizing, and addressing non-economic losses in the context of human mobility and the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Trainings on Planned Relocation for the Government of Solomon Islands. Her academic credentials include a published book “Rethinking Climate Mobilities: The Nuanced Approach to Planned Relocation,” in the Palgrave volume Rethinking Climate Change, Security and Politics, demonstrating recognized expertise in climate mobilities scholarship. Dalila’s work bridges research, community practice, and policy design, positioning her as a recognized researcher within the climate adaptation and mobility field, international development, political and social sciences. 


In her enquiry, Dalila has observed planned relocation and the consequences of these on land and indigenous governance mechanisms. Field study in the Pacific revealed that people affected by climate change are forced to move but also sometimes forced to stay in locations exposed to extreme environmental hazards or gradual erosion such as sea level rise. These populations "trapped" are often the most vulnerable. At the same time, voluntary immobility is also an emerging category that often reveals resilience mechanisms that have been developed over time or retrieved from the past to address environmental challenges in the region. Those two observations led Dalila to explore in her future research how to frame a two-sided conceptual space exploring both vulnerability and resilience of communities in the context of climate (im)mobility.

Dalila is an author and reviewer to the IPCC author for the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities, part of the Seventh Assessment Cycle (AR7).and several research relevant climate adaptation, (im)mobility in the Pacific region, Africa, and Europe. She has participated to various international, national and regional discussions on human mobility and climate change, providing expertise on planned relocation including at the UNFCCC. In the past, Dalila worked as researcher for UNHCR, IOM, UNCCD, UNU-CRIS and Amnesty International.

TE WHARE WĀNANGA O WAITAHA - UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY APPOINTMENTS

  • Adjunct Professor of Practice
    University of Canterbury, Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, Faculty of Arts31 Jan 2025 - present

LANGUAGES

  • French
    Can read, write, speak, understand and peer review

FACULTY

  • Faculty of Arts

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

  • 13 Climate Action
  • 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • 5 Gender Equality
  • 10 Reduced Inequalities
  • 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

FIELDS OF RESEARCH