Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law

Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law
Author: Jane McAdam
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2012-02-23
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0199587086

This is a key study into whether 'climate change refugees' are protected by international law. It examines the reasons why people do or do not move; how far climate change is a trigger for movement; and whether traditional international responses, such as creating new treaties and new institutions, are appropriate solutions in this context.

International Law and the Protection of “Climate Refugees”

International Law and the Protection of “Climate Refugees”
Author: Giovanni Sciaccaluga
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2020-08-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3030524027

This book studies the topic of forced climate migrants (commonly referred to as “climate refugees”) through the lens of international law and identifies the reasons why these migrants should be granted international protection. Through an analysis focused on climate change and human rights international law, it points out the legal principles and rules upon which an international obligation to protect persons forced to migrate due to climate change is emerging. Sciaccaluga advocates for a state obligation to protect climate migrants when their origin countries have become extremely environmentally fragile due to climate change—to the point of becoming unable to guarantee the exercise of inalienable human rights in their territories. Turning to the future, this book then investigates the current elements on which a “forced climate migrants law” could be built, ultimately arguing for the duty to provide some form of assistance to forced climate migrants in a third state within the international legal system.

Environmental Change, Forced Displacement and International Law

Environmental Change, Forced Displacement and International Law
Author: Isabel M. Borges
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2018-12-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1351361791

This book explores the increasing concern over the extent to which those suffering from forced cross-border displacement as a result of environmental change are protected under international human rights law. Formally they are not entitled to admission or stay in a third state country, a situation that has been identified as an international "legal protection gap". The book seeks to provide answers to two basic questions: whether and to what extent existing international law protects cross-border environmental displacement, and whether and how existing formalized regional complementary protection standards can interpretively solidify and conceptualize protection for cross-border environmental displacement. The discussion outlines that the protection of the human person is not only an ex post facto obligation of states, but must be increasingly seen as an ex ante one. The analysis further suggests that the European Union regionally orientated protection regime can help states to consolidate an evolving protection paradigm of proactive and reactive measures being erected at the international level. It can also narrow the identified legal protection gaps. In so doing, it helps states to reconceptualise protection as a holistic and dynamic enterprise. This book will be of great interest to academics in law, political science and human rights, policy makers and civil society organisations both at national and international level.

Research Handbook on Climate Change, Migration and the Law

Research Handbook on Climate Change, Migration and the Law
Author: Benoît Maye
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2017-10-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1785366599

This comprehensive Research Handbook provides an overview of the debates on how the law does, and could, relate to migration exacerbated by climate change. It contains conceptual chapters on the relationship between climate change, migration and the law, as well as doctrinal and prospective discussions regarding legal developments in different domestic contexts and in international governance.

Climate Change and Displacement

Climate Change and Displacement
Author: Jane McAdam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2010-09-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 184731600X

Environmental migration is not new. Nevertheless, the events and processes accompanying global climate change threaten to increase human movement both within states and across international borders. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted an increased frequency and severity of climate events such as storms, cyclones and hurricanes, as well as longer-term sea level rise and desertification, which will impact upon people's ability to survive in certain parts of the world. This book brings together a variety of disciplinary perspectives on the phenomenon of climate-induced displacement. With chapters by leading scholars in their field, it collects in one place a rigorous, holistic analysis of the phenomenon, which can better inform academic understanding and policy development alike. Governments have not been prepared to take a leading role in developing responses to the issue, in large part due to the absence of strong theoretical frameworks from which sound policy can be constructed. The specialist expertise of the authors in this book means that each chapter identifies key issues that need to be considered in shaping domestic, regional and international responses, including the complex causes of movement, the conceptualisation of migration responses to climate change, the terminology that should be used to describe those who move, and attitudes to migration that may affect decisions to stay or leave. The book will help to facilitate the creation of principled, research-based responses, and establish climate-induced displacement as an important aspect of both the climate change and global migration debates.

Climate Change, Migration and Human Rights

Climate Change, Migration and Human Rights
Author: Dimitra Manou
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2017-05-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317222334

Climate Change already having serious impacts on the lives of millions of people across the world. These impacts are not only ecological, but also social, economic and legal. Among the most significant of such impacts is climate change-induced migration. The implications of this on human rights raise pressing questions, which require serious scholarly reflection. Drawing together experts in this field, Climate Change, Migration and Human Rights offers a fresh perspective on human rights law and policy issues in the climate change regime by examining the interrelationships between various aspects of human rights, climate change and migration. Three key themes are explored: understanding the concepts of human dignity, human rights and human security; the theoretical nexus between human rights, climate change and migration or displacement; and the practical implications and challenges for lawyers and policy-makers of protecting human dignity in the face of climate change and displacement. The book also includes a series of case studies from Alaska, Bangladesh, Kenya and the Pacific islands which aim to improve our understanding of the theoretical and practical implications of climate change for human rights and migration. This book will be of great interest to scholars of environmental law and policy, human rights law, climate change, and migration and refugee studies.

Climate Refugees

Climate Refugees
Author: Simon Behrman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2022-02-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108904610

The last few years have witnessed a flurry of activity in global governance and international lawseeking to address the protection gaps for people fleeing the effects of climate change. This book discusses cutting-edge developments in law and policy on climate change and forced displacement, including theories and potential solutions, issues of governance, local and regional concerns, and future challenges. Chapters are written by a range of authors from academics to key figures in intergovernmental organisations, and offer detailed case studies of policy developments in the Americas, Europe, South-East Asia, and the Pacific. This is an ideal resource for graduate students and researchers from a range of disciplines, as well as policymakers working in environmental law, environmental governance, and refugee and migration law. This is one of a series of publications associated with the Earth System Governance Project. For more publications, see www.cambridge.org/earth-system-governance.

The Concept of Climate Migration

The Concept of Climate Migration
Author: Benoît Mayer
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2016-11-25
Genre: Climatic changes
ISBN: 1786431734

This timely book offers a unique interdisciplinary inquiry into the prospects of different political narratives on climate migration. It identifies the essential angles on climate migration – the humanitarian narrative, the migration narrative and the climate change narrative – and assesses their prospects. The author contends that although such arguments will influence global governance, they will not necessarily achieve what advocates hope for. He discusses how the weaknesses of the concept of “climate migration” are likely to be utilized in favour of repressive policies against migration or for the defence of industrial nations against perceived threats from the Third World.

Climate Change, Disasters, and the Refugee Convention

Climate Change, Disasters, and the Refugee Convention
Author: Matthew Scott
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2019-12-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108787770

Climate Change, Disasters and the Refugee Convention is concerned with refugee status determination (RSD) in the context of disasters and climate change. It demonstrates that the legal predicament of people who seek refugee status in this connection has been inconsistently addressed by judicial bodies in leading refugee law jurisdictions, and identifies epistemological as well as doctrinal impediments to a clear and principled application of international refugee law. Arguing that RSD cannot safely be performed without a clear understanding of the relationship between natural hazards and human agency, the book draws insights from disaster anthropology and political ecology that see discrimination as a contributory cause of people's differential exposure and vulnerability to disaster-related harm. This theoretical framework, combined with insights derived from the review of existing doctrinal and judicial approaches, prompts a critical revision of the dominant human rights-based approach to the refugee definition.

International Climate Change Law

International Climate Change Law
Author: Daniel Bodansky
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2017
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0199664293

A perfect introduction to climate change law, this textbook offers students and scholars an overview of the international law governing this fundamental issue. It demonstrates how to interpret the language used in the applicable instruments and conventions, and sets climate change law in its broader international legal context.