International Legal Status Of Climate Refugees: Gaps, Challenges, And The Need For Reform
- IJLLR Journal
- Jun 12
- 2 min read
Ragamaliga. M, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai
Uthish Guhan. G, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai
ABSTRACT
Today, climate change caused by people is happening all around the globe and is having severe effects on human life and livelihood (i.e., housing, job...) everywhere. There have been many recent efforts by different countries to combat climate change, but not one nation is able to do anything of significance to stop people from being migrated at large-scale on the actions taken to combat climate change. Millions of people will have to leave their homes due to environmental damage, rise in sea-level, and increased severity of weather events, which is leading to the creation of new classes of people called “climate refugees”. While climate refugees will be an increasingly important humanitarian issue, the term lacks formal recognition in international law, rendering climate-induced displacement as an complex issue. Thus, dealing with climate changes through informal, short-term approaches will not be sufficient to address climate dislocation.
This Article will address the status of climate change refugees under current international law. It asserts that existing international laws fail to meet the needs of climate change refugees due to their structural inadequacies. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is state-centric and does not provide any form of remedy for climate change refugees, and the 1951 Refugee Convention, only allows for protection against persecution, do not provide a complete solution. This Article argues the importance in creation of a separate instrument for the protection of climate refugees is necessary, although it must build on and include the existing legal frameworks. Nevertheless, despite the absence of widespread formal commitment, a limited number of States have voluntarily extended humanitarian, financial, and resettlement support to climate- displaced populations.
