Migration and Human Displacement in the Context of Climate changeReflections on the Category of Climate Refugees

  1. Del Álamo Marchena, Enrique 1
  1. 1 Centre of Excellence Jean Monnet–University of Cadiz
Journal:
Peace & Security - Paix et Sécurité Internationales (Euromediterranean Journal of International Law and International Relations)

ISSN: 2341-0868

Year of publication: 2021

Issue: 9

Type: Article

DOI: 10.25267/PAIX_SECUR_INT.2021.I9.1708 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: Peace & Security - Paix et Sécurité Internationales (Euromediterranean Journal of International Law and International Relations)

Abstract

As a consequence of the impering productive system in the world, climate change is considered as one of the most controversial phenomena because of its environmental, economical, demographic and social effects which cause, in the end, the displacement and migration of population, specially in the Global South. Nowadays, natural disasters and climate change are factors causing the greatest number of migrant people around the globe. Events such as droughts in the Sahel region, the rising sea levels in the Asian South and Southeast and the disappearance of insular states as Kiribati or Tuvalu give testimony of this condition. In this context, the term “climate refugee” arises to tackle and give an answer to those people who are forced to abandon their homes due to environmental deterioration caused by climate change. Nevertheless, this concept poses a series of challenges and difficulties regarding its implementation in international law of refugees. Thus, the aim is to provide an approximation of a collective, the climate refugees, by analyzing their origins and consequences.

Bibliographic References

  • CAMPINS ERITJA, M. “De Kioto a París: ¿Evolución o Involución de las Negociaciones Internacionales sobre el Cambio Climático?”, Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos, 15, 2015.
  • CELIS, R., & SEPÚLVEDA, C. Contra el despojo. Capitalismo, degradación ambiental y desplazamiento forzado. Análisis de los casos de Colombia y Ecuador. (1ª ed.). Bilbao: CEAR, 2012.
  • EL-HINNAWI, E. Environmental Refugees,​ United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, 1985.
  • ESPÓSITO, C., & TORRES, A. “Cambio climático y derechos humanos: el desafío de los “nuevos refugiados”, Revista de Derecho Ambiental de la Universidad de Palermo,​ 1, 2012.
  • GOODWIN-GILL, G and MCADAM, J. Climate change, disasters and displacement, Geneva, UNHCR, 2017.
  • HARARI, M., & LA FERRARA, E. “Conflict, Climate, and Cells: A Disaggregated Analysis”, The Review of Economic and Statistics, 100(4), 2018.
  • HOSSEIN, A., & ELSADING, E. Climate Refugees: The Climate Crisis and Rights Denied. Berkeley, CA: Othering & Belonging Institute, University of California Berkeley, 2019.
  • ISLAM, M. M., SALLU, S., HUBACEK, K., & PAAVOLA, J. “Migrating to tackle Climate Variability and Change? Insights from Coastal fishing Communities in Bangladesh”, Climatic Change, 124(4), 2014.
  • KÄLIN W., & SCHREPFER, N. “Protecting People Crossing Borders in the Context of Climate Change. Normative Gaps and Possible Approaches”, Legal and protection policy research series​, nº 24, 2012.
  • KRALER A., KATSIAFICAS, C., & WAGNER, M. Climate Change and Migration. Legal and policy challenges and responses to environmentally induced migration. Brussels: Policy Department for Citizens Rights and Constitutional Affairs, European Parliament. 2020.
  • MCADAM, J. “Climate Change Displacement and International Law”, In Side Event to the High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges, 8 December, 2010.
  • MORRISSEY, J. “Rethinking the “Debate on Environmental Refugees”: from “Maximilists and Minimalists” to “Proponents and Critics”, Journal of Political Ecology,​ 19​, 2012.
  • MYERS, N. “Environmental refugees in a globally warmed world”, BioScience 4​ 3(11), 1992.
  • MYERS, N. “Environmental refugees an emergent security issue”. 13th Economic Forum​, 23-27 May. Prague, 2005.
  • NAVA ESCUDERO, C. “El Acuerdo de París: Predominio del soft law en el régimen climático”, Boletín Mexicano de Derecho Comparado, 147, 2016.
  • PAJARES, M. “Las dos fases de las migraciones climáticas”, Migraciones climáticas, 2019.
  • STELLINA, J., & AHMAD, N. “Climate Refugees under International Climate Law and International Refugee Law: Towards Addressing the Protection Gaps and Exploring the Legal Alternatives for Criminal Justice”, ISIL Year Book of International Humanitarian and Refugee Law, 14-15, 2015.
  • SUHRKE, A. “Environmental degradation and population flows”, ​Journal of International Affairs 47(2), 1994.
  • VERDÚ BAEZA, J. “A propósito de la cumbre climática de Marrakech: Cuando la solución empieza a ser parte del problema”, ​Revista electrónica de estudios internacionales (REEI). 33, 2017.
  • VLASSOPOULOS, C. “Defining Environmental Migration in the Climate Change era: Problem. Consequence or Solution?”, In T. Faist & J. Scheade (Eds.), Disentangling Migration and Climate Change, Springer, 2013, (1st ed.).
  • WALSHAM, M. Assessing the Evidence: Environment, Climate Change and Migration in Bangladesh. Dhaka: OIM, 2010.