Abstract It is anticipated that environmental stress induced by climate change may displace some people and communities. While many people will be able to respond to such impacts, there will be groups that are unable to either adapt in situ or migrate. In such cases some degree of planned and assisted resettlement may be required. Specialists are looking for precedents to guide such resettlement, and development-forced displacement and resettlement (DFDR) has been offered. However, DFDR practice is deeply flawed, as evidenced by the large numbers of people who have been impoverished through it. Yet from these flaws come lessons. This paper analyses DFDR for its frailties, to identify these lessons and situate them within the broader political economy. We ask: why does DFDR continue to intensify impoverishment? The paper contributes to the literature on the political economy of DFDR and provides contextual considerations for planners organising resettlements in response to climate change. It is only by analysing this foundational knowledge that the intergenerational burden that has plagued so many DFDR projects can be averted.