Climate Refugees: Global, Local and Critical Approaches

Abstract

Climate Refugees: Global, Local and Critical Approaches, edited by Simon Behrman and Avidan Kent, is a volume in the Earth System Governance series. It follows several publications by the editors on ‘climate refugees’, including an earlier volume (‘Climate Refugees’: Beyond the Legal Impasse? Routledge 2018) with some of the same contributors. Global, Local and Critical Approaches begins with the editors’ ‘Alternative Introduction’, which motivates the volume in three ways. First, the editors emphasize the importance of understanding recent international developments that provide momentum for further action on climate change and human mobility (p 3). Secondly, they aim to include ‘local perspectives’ that ‘connect wider, global developments with movements on the micro level’ (p 2). Thirdly, they call for critical approaches that ‘consider whether we are heading in the right direction, using the most appropriate fora and strategies, or whether the right actors are leading it’ (p 7). Following the introduction, the volume is divided into four parts. The first looks broadly at global governance of climate-related displacement, the second explores the issue through various aspects of international law, the third turns to regional and local perspectives and solutions, and the final part focuses on critical approaches. There are 19 chapters, written by a total of 27 contributors who work in academia, the judiciary, non-governmental or international organizations, or as practising lawyers. This serves the volume well, bringing together a range of voices and perspectives that allows the reader to consider different, sometimes contrasting, approaches.