Climate change and migration 2012, para. 62

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Paragraph text: Yet, the Special Rapporteur is aware that the vast majority of expected climate-change-induced migrants will not be moving as a result of persecution. Some commentators have thus argued for the creation of a new category of protection: the "environmental refugee". The Special Rapporteur acknowledges that with regard to migration induced by climate change, the established law and practice around refugee status will not, and perhaps should not, necessarily apply to most. Although disturbances owing to climate change may increase movements of refugees, it may be impractical, not to mention undesirable, to expand the definition of international refugee law. First, many climate-change-induced migrants are most often displaced within the borders of their State. Moreover, the refugee paradigm neglects the major differences between temporary, permanent or circular climate-change-induced migration. It is also questionable whether a distinction between refugees fleeing events induced by climate change and other refugees would be useful. Furthermore, simply expanding the category of refugee law has the potential to weaken the important system put in place for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers. Thus, the present international refugee protection regime may not be the most appropriate vehicle to accommodate the vast majority of climate-change-induced migrants.

Topic(s)

Person(s) affected