Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law

A Long Way to Go: Irregular Migration Patterns, Processes, Drivers and Decision-making

“…In the absence of a clear definition, McAdam (2012) has neatly summarised a range of considerations that responses to environmentally related migration will depend on: '(a) whether such movement is perceived as voluntary or involuntary; (b) the nature of the trigger (a rapid-onset disaster versus a slow-onset process); (c) whether international borders are crossed; (d) the extent to which there are political incentives to characterise something as linked to climate change or not; and (e) whether movement is driven or aggravated by human factors, such as discrimination ' (p. 17).…”

“…It has been suggested that nonrefoulement obligations under international human rights law might provide another avenue for protecting those affected by environmental and climate change factors (McAdam, 2012;European Commission [EC], 2013). This is envisaged primarily under the right to life (where relevant issues may be standard of living, means of subsistence, survival and protection of life, which could be affected by environmental factors) and the prohibition against torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment (where return to socioeconomic deprivation, including that caused by humanitarian disasters, could constitute inhuman and degrading treatment) (United Nations General Assembly [UNGA], 1966).…”

Environmentally related international migration: Policy challenges

“…There is broad agreement that most environmentally related migration is expected to be internal (International Organization for Migration [IOM], 2013;McAdam, 2012;Martin, 2010;Newland, 2011). Nonetheless, discussions of the implications of environmentally related migration for Australia often focus on the possibility of international migration from Pacific Island nations, and the challenges Australia may face in addressing such flows through its current policy settings.…”

“…Also in a regional context, McAdam (2012) has discussed the potential utility of existing regional instruments, such as the Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees in Latin America. Both define refugees more broadly than the Refugee Convention, and include people who have moved because of events that have disturbed public order.…”

“…Both define refugees more broadly than the Refugee Convention, and include people who have moved because of events that have disturbed public order. McAdam (2012) has argued that under both instruments it is likely that attributing movement to 'climate change' would be difficult, and that protection seems to be limited to people who have already moved in response to an actual threat, therefore limiting coverage of people moving in anticipation of future environmental impacts.…”