Research Handbook on Climate Change, Migration and the Law, Research Handbooks in Climate Law

Abstract

The Research Handbook on Climate Change, Migration and the Law has been written at a time when we are entering into new international developments addressing different forms of human movement in the context of climate change. While these developments are not binding on States, they nevertheless enshrine important commitments and prescribe actions to be taken in response to future challenges. For instance, in 2018, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (Migration Compact) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, the first global agreement addressing all forms of migration worldwide. Objective 2 of the Migration Compact lists the commitments of States regarding ‘natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change, and environmental degradation’. Furthermore, the Task Force on Displacement (established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage) has delivered its recommendations to ‘avert, minimise and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change’.1 Also, the International Law Commission has established a new Study Group on ‘Sea-Level Rise in relation to International Law’, whose mandate is to analyse, inter alia, the protection of persons affected by rising sea levels due to anthropogenic climate change.