Defining Climate Displacement in Africa: Legal Implications in Light of the African Guiding Principles on the Human Rights of All Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Expanding the Duty to Rescue to Climate Migration

Collectif Argos: Climate Refugees

The architecture of international aid and climate finance should be reformed to address the needs of climate migrants. While humanitarian aid agencies that support some climate migrants are increasingly overburdened, climate migration has been underestimated and largely neglected by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The policy community has based a high-end estimate of 216 million potential climate migrants by 2050 on Groundswell (2021), but Groundswell does not address all drivers. It uses statistical methods to estimate internal migration from slow-onset drivers including crop yields, water supplies, and sea level rise, but the state of knowledge only permits rough, “back-of-the-envelope” estimates for other forms and drivers. Working out such estimates for sudden-onset drivers and for the remaining slow-onset drivers, if mitigation and adaptation are weak, I find that there could be about 500 million climate migrants by 2050. While the UNFCCC classifies climate migration under adaptation, few adaptation resources are devoted to migrants’ needs. Based on humanitarian aid expenses for other kinds of migrants, I estimate it could cost around $7000 per person to help climate migrants to rebuild their lives. At this rate, support for climate migrants would be a significant part of the total climate finance, and with organizational needs for supporting climate migrants being quite different from those for adaptation proper, it would make sense for the UNFCCC to address climate migration as a separate category on par with mitigation and adaptation.

The climate change discourse that emerged in the 1990s has foregrounded climate-induced migration; yet, terms such as environmental refugee or climate migrant, frequently invoked in public debate, remain undefined within international refugee law, generating legal ambiguities and gaps in protection. This absence is not merely terminological but reflects historical frameworks that excluded ecological considerations from migration governance. Drawing on political ecology, Marxist scholarship, and Moore’s world-ecology approach, this paper critically examines the limitations of climate migration debates when disconnected from the structural dynamics of global capitalism. It situates mobility within the long-term transformation of socio-ecological relations, emphasizing that displacement is both a product and a driver of capitalist expansion, ecological change, and uneven power relations. By framing climate-induced migration within historical and structural processes, the paper highlights the necessity of critically reassessing mobility classifications in light of alarmist and securitarian frameworks and the war regime emerging from the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s military action in Gaza since 2023.

Bangladesh many older people spend their life in not only the unwell health but also in poverty which is major risk for the elderly population. This is especially true for older women, who suffer from various difficulties ensuing from prejudices to gender, widowhood and old age. Climate migrants start living in urban slums are in search of better and secure life. But urban slums located mostly in low lying environmentally hazardous area coupled with inadequate facilities like food, shelter, sanitation, health care make their life even worse. Older Women are the vulnerable groups in society in terms of climate change, movement; haphazard growth and unhealthy environment are the target group for this research. This study represents the nature and extent of elderly abuse of climate migrant urban poor women slum dwellers in Dhaka city in Bangladesh context. Besides, this paper also observe the socio-economic status of the study respondents and try to find out the self-stated reasons of elderly abuse. This study conducted both quantitative and qualitative types study on two slums of Dhaka with purposive sample survey, KII and in depth qualitative interview of selected climate migrant slum dwellers while purposive sample size of 50. Decreasing in earning capacity, inability and economic dependency, health hazard, maladjustment, changing social values have a separate role in the connection of older abuse. Planned migration, awareness program implantations against elderly abuse and secured socioeconomic factors are suggested through this paper to lessen exposure to further neglecting of elderly climate migrant women in urban slums.

Southeast Asia, a region at the forefront of the climate crisis, is experiencing a surge in climate-induced displacement, with projections indicating that 3.3 to 6.3 million internal displacements may occur in the lower Mekong sub-region by 2050. Climate migration in the Global South is not merely a matter of environmental survival but also a significant human rights concern—particularly for women. Female climate migrants are especially vulnerable to gender-based violence, trafficking, and restricted access to essential services such as sanitation, reproductive healthcare, and psychosocial support. Despite growing awareness, the intersectional vulnerabilities of these women remain insufficiently addressed in both academic literature and legal policy. While previous research has explored climate migration and women’s rights separately, few studies have engaged with their intersection—particularly within Global South contexts. This study seeks to bridge that gap by examining the identity, legal recognition, and lived experiences of female climate migrants, with Vietnam serving as a representative case study. The research employs a comparative legal analysis of international and Vietnamese legal frameworks, evaluating how existing laws conceptualise and safeguard female climate migrants. Methodologically, it draws on interdisciplinary literature and human rights-based approaches to interrogate both normative and practical gaps in protection. The findings reveal that prevailing legal regimes tend to classify women either as victims of climate disasters or as migrants, without adequately accounting for the convergence of these identities. This oversight contributes to fragmented protections and critical policy blind spots. In response, the study proposes a holistic framework that incorporates gender-responsive and climate-specific considerations into migration law and policy. By foregrounding the voices and rights of female climate migrants in the Global South, this research contributes to the advancement of human rights scholarship and advocates for inclusive, intersectional, and contextually grounded legal reforms. It highlights the urgent need for policies that not only address environmental displacement but also uphold the dignity and rights of the most affected.

Elderly women are the vulnerable groups in society in terms of climate change, movement; haphazard growth and unhealthy environment are the target group for this research. Climate migrant’s start living in urban slums are in search of better and secure life. If the number of elderly women are not qualified, it will be burden for development. So as to maximize the role of service to elderly, it is need to know the first needs of elderly women, in this case, the present study attempted to determine the needs of climate migrant older women in slum area. But urban slums located mostly in low lying environmentally hazardous area coupled with inadequate facilities like food, shelter, sanitation, health care make their life even worse. This paper is a descriptive type of quantitative study conducted at Dhaka to review all essential need for living as elderly women slum dwellers after climate migration. The study conducted on slum of Dhaka with purposive sample survey, KII and in depth qualitative interview of selected climate migrant elderly women slum dwellers while purposive sample size of 50. The basic needs of elderly women in the slum areas not only allowance but also the health needs of the comfort, work skill rendering their body fitness, infrastructure and recreation facilities are the identified indicators of this paper. It is hoped that relevant parties can plan to meet the needs of climate migrant elderly women in slum area to provide services according to the expected demand. KEY WORDS: Climate migrants, elderly women, needs, slum dwellers, Dhaka City.

Domestic climate migration is likely to increase in the future, but we know little about public perceptions and attitudes about climate migrants and migration. Understanding how perceptions and attitudes are formed is a critical task in assessing public support for assistance policies and developing effective messaging campaigns. In this paper, we aim to better understand how the U.S. public perceives domestic climate migrants. We use novel survey data to identify the relationship between climate change risk perceptions and awareness of “climate migrants,” belief that domestic climate migration is currently happening in the United States, perceived voluntariness of domestic climate migrant relocation, and support for the development of assistance programs for domestic climate migrants. We utilize a large, nationally representative panel of U.S. adults (N = 4074) collected over three waves in 2022. We find that climate change risk perceptions and perceptions of whether migration is voluntary are key drivers of perceptions and attitudes toward domestic climate migrants. We provide key suggestions to policy makers and decision-makers to improve outcomes for host and migrant communities. Significance Statement This study illuminates factors that influence the how the public forms perceptions and attitudes about domestic climate migrants in the United States. For the first time, we offer insight into the drivers of public opinion toward domestic climate migrants and migration. Our results indicate that the various perceptions of climate migrants are largely driven by preexisting climate change risk perceptions and respondent characteristics. Our findings create a new connection with the existing literature on climate change risk perceptions and offer an opportunity for decision-makers and policy makers to create effective messaging campaigns on topics related to domestic climate migration in the United States.

Waiting for the wave, but missing the tide: Case studies of climate-related (im)mobility and health

Climate change may compel millions of people, largely in Africa and Asia, to leave their homes to seek refuge in other places over the course of the century. Yet the current institutions, organizations and funding mechanisms, including new soft law initiatives, are not sufficiently equipped to deal with this. The situation calls for new governance. Following a review of academic and popular debates focussed on defining this issue as climate ‘refugees’ or ‘migrants’, we advance in this chapter a blueprint for a global governance architecture on the protection and voluntary resettlement of climate migrants. We argue against the extension of the definition of refugees under the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and discuss the limited use of soft law mechanisms as these are largely focussed on state responsibility. Key elements of our proposal are, instead, a new legal instrument that builds on the responsibility of the international community and is specifically tailored for the needs of climate migrants—a Protocol on Recognition, Protection and Resettlement of Climate Migrants to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change—as well as a separate funding mechanism, a Climate Migrant Protection and Resettlement Fund.

When a species colonizes a new range, it can escape enemies found in its original range. Examples of enemy escape abound for invasive species, but are rare for climate migrants, which are populations of a species that colonize a new range due to climate-driven range shifts or expansions. The fiddler crab Minuca (=Uca) pugnax is found in the intertidal salt marshes of the US east coast. It recently expanded its range north into the Gulf of Maine as a result of ocean warming. We tested the hypothesis that M. pugnax had escaped its parasite enemies. Parasite richness and trematode intensity were lower in populations in the expanded range than in populations in the historical range, but infection prevalence did not differ. Although M. pugnax escaped most of its historical parasites when it migrated northward, it was infected with black-gill lamellae (indicative of Synophrya hypertrophica), which was found in the historical range, and with the trematode Odhneria cf. odhneri, which was not found in the historical range. To our knowledge, this is the first time that O. cf. odhneri has been reported in fiddler crabs. These results demonstrate that although M. pugnax escaped some of its historical parasites when it expanded its range, it appears to have gained a new parasite (O. cf. odhneri) in the expanded range. Overall, our results demonstrate that climate migrants can escape their enemies despite colonizing habitats adjacent to their enemy-filled historical range.

Climate Change creates one of the greatest developmental challenges of the current era. Bangladesh, since most of the children of migrants of the school going age are being left in the village when one or both of their parents move to the city. Climate migrants who have started living in urban slums are in search of a better and more secure life. This paper is a descriptive type of qualitative study conducted in Dhaka to explore the socio-economic status and educational condition of climate migrant children of slum people. The target groups for the interview are the mothers of the children who are supported to be well informed about children’s lifestyle while the purposive sample size was 50. This study also investigated the government and non-government programs for slum children. The study was conducted at one of the slums of Dhaka with observation, and semi-structured interview schedules were used for selected climate migrant slum dwellers. Protected socioeconomic support and planned migration are suggested in this paper to explore further poverty and educational insecurity of the urban poor.

An environmental migrant, often called a climate refugee, has left their home because of sudden or ongoing environmental changes that have negatively impacted their way of life.Because of its large population and relatively flat terrain, Bangladesh is one of the countries that would feel the full force of climate change.Bangladesh is prone to floods, cyclones, river bank erosion, and salt intrusion due to its exceedingly fragile ecosystem.Because of its dense population and high poverty rate, Bangladesh is particularly at risk from the effects of climate change.Coastal, desert, and semi-arid areas of Bangladesh are already feeling the effects of climate change on their way of life and ability to exist.Flooding, storm surges and cyclones caused by climate change may cause a sizable portion of the population in Bangladesh to be displaced.More importantly, climate change and displacement could undermine progress.In essence, the study analyses the exact scenario of climate migrants in Bangladesh and how their rights are being ensured through domestic mechanisms.The study also proposes the potential pathways so that the climate migrant can lead a sustainable standard of life.This study has followed a descriptive, thematic, and doctrinal legal research method with an integrative literature review on legal mechanisms for analyzing overall provisions on environmental refugees and their displacement.

One of the most important global policy and environmental institution issues in recent days is the climate refugee phenomenon. The climate refugees confronting unsecured legal status and, appalling, human rights violations as well as dangerous access to basic services. The scale of this crisis grows ever more pronounced from day to day, and given its highly endemic character it is doubtful that existing international instruments, particularly the 1951 Refugee Convention, are in a position to offer effectively to the distinct dangers and vulnerabilities of climate-displaced people. As a special emphasis, the article focuses on case studies in the Pacific Islands, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, where climate displacement is severely afflicting, disproportionate to the rest of the world. Moreover, the article discusses the boundaries between migration of climate refugees across international borders under the Constraint of strained resources, national security access and social integration. To avoid this coming crisis the article advocates for global policies that are inclusive that would include environmental sustainability, human rights protection and equitable resource allocation. For instance, there is a need for cooperative international action which revises existing legal instruments and institutes some new paradigms for climate migration to relative justice and security for climate refugees.Keywords:Climate Refugees, Environmental Displacement, Global Borders, Political Policies, Human Rights, Climate Change, Migration, Legal Frameworks, Global Security, Sustainability.

Between 2010 to 2020, the global media generally had a very positive view of the voluntary migration schemes or humanitarian refugee visas promised by their Pacific allies (e.g., Australia and New Zealand). However, the actual implementation of climate migrants’ relocation tells a different story, particularly in the case of I-Kiribati people. This paper examines Australian and New Zealand’s governmental policies of immigration for the Pacific islanders over the last two decades. Drawing on a decolonial theoretical approach inspired by Jonathan Pugh, David Chandler and Elizabeth DeLoughrey, in conjunction with Prem Kumar Rajaram’s post-Marxist migrant economy theory, this paper argues that the Australian and New Zealand governments ultimately only paid lip service to humanitarian aid for climate displaced people. In fact, the proposed schemes for I-Kiribati people or other Pacific climate migrants ultimately serve to convert the migrant populations into the host country’s labour force, of use for its neoliberal economy. The second half of the paper turns to an analysis of an award-winning climate documentary produced by a Canadian film maker, Matthieu Rytz. Rytz’s Anote’s Ark (2018) aligns with the “migrating with dignity” policy proposed by the former I-Kiribati president, Anote Tong. Bringing in Malcom Ferdinand’s decolonial analysis of the figure of Noah’s ark in the climate discourse, the paper problematises the general political consensus advanced by this particular type of contemporary climate documentary and challenges the feasibility of the “migrating with dignity” approach. Most importantly, it questions whether climate migrants can truly build a future with dignity in their host country if they are conditioned to supply the migrant labour market.