“Climate Refugees”—A Useful Concept?

Collectif Argos: Climate Refugees

Against the background of climate scepticism and raging anti-immigrant sentiments across Europe, the politics of climate change and the politics of migration are fraught with tension. The two converge over discussions about ‘climate refugees’. But what merit does the term ‘climate refugee’ have, and are there potential problems associated with it? This article pays attention to how racialised discourses underwrite the concept of climate refugees in ways that further exclude already marginalised populations. In place of ‘climate refugees’, it proposes ‘ecological displacement’ as a notion which stresses how and why people are displaced within or across borders. While, indeed, anthropogenic climate change is a real threat to the livelihoods of humans (among other species), it is not the only environmental driver of displacement. By using the term ‘ecology’, this article argues that we allow for a description which encompasses other potential displacement drivers beyond climate change, such as volcanic eruptions, landslides, and political violence. Citing ‘displacement’ makes the term available to populations who are displaced by damaged ecologies both within and across borders, in and outside of Europe. The notion of ‘ecological displacement’ and ‘ecologically displaced people’ tries to rehumanise those carrying the heaviest social and climate burdens on a burning planet.

The new phenomenon “anthropogenic climate change” has been rising due to the awareness of societies and individuals feeling more responsible in climate change. In this context, this study investigates the link between sustainable communities and climate refugees by reviewing what kinds of relationship exists between these societies and climate change. The original contribution of this study is giving a brief framework for the link between sustainable communities, climate refugees, and climate change. This study focuses on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals when observing sustainable communities and climate refugees. As a result of the review, the study presents some suggestions including solutions for the problems of climate refugees and the status of them globally. Thus, the authors point out an approach expressed as “on-the-spot solution in combating climate change for not to leave anyone behind.”

Chapter 24 - Climate change and refugees

The grimmest sordid state of affairs of being a refugee in the contemporary world has attained a new terrain of crisis depicted by the emergence of ‘climate refugees’ produced by climate change. People do not move on a whim or megrim rather sociopolitical, economic and environmental factors compel them to migrate from their homelands. Almost seventy years ago, European Jews were deprived of asylum and hounded by the Nazis. Similarly, the climate change and ‘climate refugees’ are making news daily due to the calamities and catastrophes surrounding them with unprecedented visibility. South Asia is one of the regions where states do not afford effective legal protection to refugees or climate refugees. However, the international protection to political refugees was institutionalized in the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (UNCSR) with its 1967 Additional Protocol and its lodger the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR). In South Asia, no country has acceded to UNCSR except Afghanistan, and there are no national refugee laws and no legal guarantees. Refugees, as well as ‘climate refugees’, have been enduring insecurity and condemnation in the SAARC region. The present chapter tries to examine the South Asian state practices to deal with the climate refugees. Unfortunately, climate refugees are completely deprived of any legal protection due to the gaps in the national laws in South Asia. The chapter further evaluates the reception of international climate change law in South Asia that is flagrantly ineffective, and climate change migration governance in South Asia that fallibly revolves around national security narratives.

As climate change worsens, millions of people around the world will be displaced, further exacerbating conflicts and resource scarcity. In recent years, individuals displaced by climate change have sought legal recognition as 'climate refugees' under the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1951. This paper argues that the Convention, originally designed to address persecution-based displacement, lacks provisions for those fleeing environmental crises. This paper explores alternative legal frameworks relating to the status of 'climate refugees' under international and domestic law, with a focus on recent judicial opinions. It also examines alternative frameworks for refugee claims, including human rights treaties, as well as regional agreements such as the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees and the 2009 African Union Kampala Convention. These mechanisms offer potential pathways for recognizing and protecting those displaced by climate change beyond the narrow definition of the 1951 Refugee Convention. The paper concludes that regional agreements, modeled after the Kampala Convention, provide the most practical and enforceable solutions for addressing the complex legal challenges posed by climate-induced displacement.

The rise in global temperatures and extreme weather events has affected agricultural trends throughout the world and threatened the livelihoods of entire communities. Although not a determinant on its own, environmental degradation constitutes one of the overlooked causes of mass displacement in the 21st century. This paper critically examines the notion of ‘environmental refugees’ and its linkages with the formation of new forms of precarious labor in the Global South. The aim of this paper is to survey the available literature on environmental migration in order to explore some of the humanitarian consequences of anthropogenic climate change. More specifically, this paper works with the myth of ‘invasion’ by environmental refugees in order to understand the systemic nature and demographic characteristics of population displacements related to the erasure of the means of survival, land and work for communities en masse, compelling members of these communities to take severe risks for survival. Drawing on the available literature on climate change and migration patterns, this paper will consider the debate on international recognition for environmentally displaced persons (EDPs). Finally, the ways in which the international community can begin to respond to anthropogenic climate change and the associated ecological crises will be considered. The paper concludes that existing binaries in refugee law fail to capture the intricate relationship between social, economic, political and environmental factors in human mobility, leaving many environmentally displaced people without protection. In order to overcome this oversight, we must critically analyze existing categories and prioritize the voices and lived experiences of those impacted by environmental change.

The rise in global temperatures and extreme weather events has affected agricultural trends throughout the world and threatened the livelihoods of entire communities. Although not a determinant on its own, environmental degradation constitutes one of the overlooked causes of mass displacement in the 21st century. This paper critically examines the notion of ‘environmental refugees’ and its linkages with the formation of new forms of precarious labor in the Global South. The aim of this paper is to survey the available literature on environmental migration in order to explore some of the humanitarian consequences of anthropogenic climate change. More specifically, this paper works with the myth of ‘invasion’ by environmental refugees in order to understand the systemic nature and demographic characteristics of population displacements related to the erasure of the means of survival, land and work for communities en masse, compelling members of these communities to take severe risks for survival. Drawing on the available literature on climate change and migration patterns, this paper will consider the debate on international recognition for environmentally displaced persons (EDPs). Finally, the ways in which the international community can begin to respond to anthropogenic climate change and the associated ecological crises will be considered. The paper concludes that existing binaries in refugee law fail to capture the intricate relationship between social, economic, political and environmental factors in human mobility, leaving many environmentally displaced people without protection. In order to overcome this oversight, we must critically analyze existing categories and prioritize the voices and lived experiences of those impacted by environmental change.

It is increasingly feared that anthropogenic climate change may lead to widespread population displacements and distress migration on scales not previously seen (UNHCR, 2009a). Predictions from reputable commentators have suggested that hundreds of millions of people may become “environmental refugees” within the next few decades, with climate change being a key cause of displacement (Myers, 2002; Christian Aid, 2007; CARE International, 2009). The popular media has identified places as far apart as Shishmaref in Alaska, Cataret Islands in New Guinea and the Lake Chad region of Africa as being sites of the first climate change refugees (IRIN, 2008; Vidal, 2005; Willis, 2004; York 2010). Climate change-related migration is seen not only as a humanitarian threat, but also as a risk to international and regional security (Brown and McLeman, 2009). A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) assessment of the recent conflict in Sudan suggests that regional climate change contributed to instability and conflict in Darfur (UNEP, 2007), while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stated publicly that climate change has become a main driver of forced migration (Borger, 2008). Panels of retired military officers and consultants to the US security establishment describe abrupt climate change as a potential “threat multiplier” that could trigger violent conflicts and stimulate waves of distress migration that further destabilize vulnerable nations (CNA, 2007; Schwartz and Randall, 2003). Bookshops now carry ominous titles like Climate Wars (Dyer, 2009) and Global Warring (Paskal, 2009).

There is growing recognition that the effects of climate change are likely to lead to more migration, both internally and internationally, in the relatively near future. These climate change-induced migrations are likely to pose new challenges to the international system, ranging from an increase in irregular migration, to strains on existing asylum systems, to protection gaps for certain migrants affected. Yet the legal and normative framework, and institutional roles and responsibilities, relating to climate change-induced migration remain poorly developed. This article provides an overview of the interactions between climate change and migration, outlines the current international response, and considers new approaches to the global governance framework. KEYWORDS: climate change, migration, asylum. ********** AS EARLY AS 1990, THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) warned that significant levels of migration could occur as a result of changing climatic conditions. (1) The concept of environmental migration proved to be a controversial one, largely because of the difficulty in measuring the extent to which environmental factors compel people to move. Since the 1980s, when the term environmental refugees was coined, experts within the environmental and migration fields have differed in their characterization of the phenomenon. Oli Brown puts those concerned with the interconnections in two groups--alarmists and skeptics. (2) The alarmists see the environment as a principal cause of population movements, emphasize the forced nature of the migration (thus, using the term refugee), and often project that hundreds of millions of persons will be affected, frequently without differentiating between those who will move short distances to safer ground versus those who will move thousands of miles to new countries. The skeptics, by contrast, raise questions about the models used to generate estimates of those who will be forced to migrate and emphasize that pull factors in destination locations are often more important than push factors at home in determining whether, where, and in what volume people will migrate. Perhaps not surprisingly, some environmentalists have been particularly alarmist, often using the threat of mass migration as a reason that immediate action should be taken to address climate change and other environmental problems. Migration experts, concerned about a potential backlash against migrants and misuse of terms like refugee, which is carefully defined in international law, have tended to join the camp of the skeptics. Recognizing the complexity in determining causality, and the broader context in which the environment affects population movements, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has offered the following broad definition of environmental migrants: Environmental migrants are persons or groups of persons who, for compelling reasons of sudden or progressive change in the environment that adversely affects their lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave their habitual homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad. (3) Policymakers have been slow, however, to develop national, regional, or international laws, policies, or organizational responsibilities--that is, a system of governance--to manage environmentally induced migration. This situation derives in part from uncertainties about the actual impacts of the environment, particularly as exacerbated by climate change, on migration. But even where there is a recognition that some form of migration related to environmental change is likely to occur, addressing these movements is hampered by the paucity of policy or institutional responses that are deemed appropriate to these forms of migration. This article begins with a brief discussion of the potential impact of climate change on migration patterns. I continue with an examination of existing capacities to address these forms of movement, discussing gaps in governance. …

The Origins of the Syrian Conflicts

The article is an attempt to respond to the need to find international legal solutions, extremely important for people living in the countries threatened by the consequences of climate change, among others, the effects of rising sea levels in the seas and oceans. I try to direct attention to the still underestimated in the international law problem of the so-called "climate refugees". Behind the concept that defies the classic definitions of "refugees", there are hundreds of thousands today, and soon perhaps millions of people whose lives, health and property will be threatened by the forces of nature. The originality of the approach presented in the article is an attempt to consider whether appropriate legal solutions that protect vulnerable populations can be sought on the basis of international humanitarian law, since so far no other branch of international law seemed adequate to take up this challenge. The urgent and important dimension of the problems discussed in the article completes the necessity of searching for and finding answers to questions about the relationship between climate change and public international law. These are the legal consequences of climate deterritorialisation of sovereign states, such as the status of the population of the state without land territory, the loss of territories by archipelago states, the change of the sea borders, territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, and finally the responsibility of states for climate change. In the context of 'climate refugees', there is still no binding legal act that would meet the needs of thousands of people affected by climate change. This causes dissonance because, beyond any doubt, the situation in which these people find themselves raises a lot of fears - for their own lives, safety, health, etc. Today, entire communities and even countries face the problem of progressing deterritorialisation in face of climate threats. climate change, they face the risk of a non-culpable threat to their sovereignty.

Economists are discussing the possible effect on the labour force and supply chain due to climate change; sociologists are outpouring their angst on the re-establishment of ‘class struggle’ because of diverse consequences of changing climatic conditions, while environmentalists have been looking at climate change as the one-dimensional environment bound crisis in nexus with scientific construct. However, what skips the day-light discussion is the number of people on the edge of either being submerged, facing acute famine, or, worse, being stateless. People are compelled to move from their livelihood, a significant reflective effect of this climate change. At this relinquishing time of human lives, while human rights are being grossly infringed, the primary concern is: What recognition do we owe to these people affected by climate change who have moved across borders in the hope of survival? The term ‘climate refugees’ has loosely been attached to the phenomenon of forced migration beyond the national borders due to the outrage of changing climatic conditions. The plight of these refugees does not cease to their ground of persecution, that is, climate change, but emancipates from the very recognition itself. At this onset, this article analyses recognition and protection under the existing international refugee law and international environmental law, further highlighting the complexities surrounding interpreting the term ‘climate refugee’. Lastly, the article evaluates the regional and non-governmental instruments in light of the recognition of climate refugees.

Climate change assumes the role of a catalyst, amplifying its impact across diverse facets of human security. Some of the most evident consequences of climate change include food insecurity, water scarcity, unequal access to resources, disease proliferation, and natural calamities such as earthquakes, avalanches, tsunamis, and mudslides, disrupting life and livelihoods and promoting migration and displacement, whether voluntary or forced, temporary or permanent, internal or across borders. Although climate change finds a place on the agendas of most countries, the interest of nations to shoulder the burdens arising from mass migration propelled by climate change is lacking. The profound scope of this evolving narrative remains unaddressed. This article unveils the rapidly emerging category of ‘climate refugees’ and distinguishes it from conventional refugee archetypes. The subsequent part brings forth the limitations of the existing international legal frameworks, such as the Refugee Convention of 1951, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Paris Agreement, inadequately underscoring the unpredictable and varied experiences of climate refugees, and proposes to revisit the international legal framework for safeguarding the individuals impacted by displacement arising from climate-related factors.

The popularity of the term “climate change refugees” has been dramatically increasing with the awareness and the disaster of the global warming. The prophecy for mass forced migrations as the consequence of climate change is deplorable. A scandalous statistics revealed that 200 million people would become climate change refugees by 2050. However there is a huge fortification gap in the international legal system which addresses the climate change refugees. Recently academics, lawyers and governments have identified the issues related to climate change refugees and realized the urgency of the formation of policies regarding the protection of the climate change refugees in remedying the plight of this category of the world population. As the first step in handling this dilemma, academics, lawyers, governments and all the stakeholders find it tricky to define the term climate change refugees. Because no one factor, event or process, inevitably results in forced migration and there are a wide range of variables contribute to the definition of the term “climate change refugees”. Different theorists have defined the term differently to distinguish a new category of displaced people. Forced migration and dislocation caused by environmental factors or natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods and man made disasters, such as war and industrial accidents have affected the universe since its existence. Before looking at the international legal constitution, it is necessary to look at the causes of environmentally displaced people in order to offer a complete protection for ‘climate change refugees’. This paper aims to identify who are the ‘climate change refugees’, the gaps in the international legal system which addresses the dilemma of the climate change refugees and proposes a fresh definition for the term “climate change refugees “ and a novel approach for dealing with the plight of this class of people in international legal system.