Displacement and climate change: the struggle to protect climate “refugees”
“The world must come together to confront climate change. There is little scientific dispute that if we do nothing, we will face more drought, famine, and mass displacement that will fuel more conflict for decades.”
- Barack Obama
Climate change is a global threat that has intensified extreme weather events, especially affecting the most vulnerable regions of the planet. With altered weather patterns, many areas worldwide are experiencing prolonged droughts, devastating floods, cyclones, and rising sea levels. These environmental crises have led to a significant increase in internal forced displacement, affecting millions of people who are forced to leave their homes in search of safety.
Countries with limited resources, fragile infrastructure, or significant socioeconomic inequalities are the most affected by these displacements. In rural and coastal areas, communities face crop losses, restricted access to drinking water, and the destruction of their homes, exacerbating their already precarious living conditions. According to the World Meteorological Organization, Africa is facing an increasingly significant burden as a result of climate change, which involves disproportionately high costs to implement essential climate adaptation measures. Phenomena such as extreme flooding and persistent droughts are among the multiple repercussions that developing countries must face within a framework of inequality in the distribution of climate change impacts.
Despite the fact that developed countries like China, the United States, and other industrialized nations are responsible for the majority of historical and current greenhouse gas emissions, developing countries disproportionately bear the impacts of climate change. According to the Global Carbon Atlas, China and the United States together account for approximately 44% of global CO₂ emissions, while low-income countries contribute less than 1%. However, it is these latter countries that face greater economic and social inequalities and must simultaneously bear the devastating consequences of climate change. Climate change does not only exacerbate poverty and food insecurity but also forces millions of people to migrate every year in search of a more sustainable future. In 2022, more than 32 million people were internally displaced due to climate-related disasters, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. In many cases, these individuals also seek to migrate internationally in search of more stable conditions, highlighting the injustice of a climate crisis whose roots they did not cause but whose consequences they must directly face.
Despite the evident impacts of climate change on those who are least responsible, there is no global legal framework specifically protecting those displaced persons from this phenomenon. International treaties such as the 1951 Refugee Convention do not recognize climate-displaced individuals, leaving millions of victims in a “legal void” without any protection at the national and international levels. Since 2008, approximately 376 million people have been displaced by environmental disasters, without adequate international protection mechanisms for them.
The urgency of establishing comprehensive legal frameworks to address displacement caused by climate change requires decisive action at both the national and international levels. At the national level, this implies not only strengthening emergency response capacities for climate events but also advancing mitigation strategies that address the underlying causes of displacement. Currently, most countries prioritize evacuation strategies or reactive disaster measures but lack concrete plans to prevent these ecological challenges and offer sustainable solutions. Without preventive measures, millions of people continue to be forced to leave their homes, perpetuating a cycle of vulnerability and precarity for the most affected communities.
At the international level, the lack of a specific legal framework providing protection for climate-displaced persons represents a significant gap that urgently needs attention. Currently, instruments like the 1951 Refugee Convention do not include climate-displaced persons within the protection of “refugees”, as this status is designed to protect only those fleeing political, racial, or religious persecution. The creation of these legal frameworks and financing mechanisms is not only a matter of climate justice but also an imperative to protect the fundamental human rights of displaced individuals.
Climate justice is a human rights issue
From a human rights perspective, the legal gaps surrounding forced displacement due to climate change constitute a grave violation of the fundamental rights of those affected, re-victimizing those who are already facing the devastating consequences of phenomena such as floods, droughts, and natural disasters.
Although the climate crisis directly impacts the well-being of millions of people, destroying material goods, generating water scarcity, malnutrition, and diseases, and causing psychological trauma, the international legal framework continues to not recognize climate-displaced individuals as refugees, leaving them without specific legal protection in any country. Amnesty International highlights how climate change not only compromises access to essential resources but also exposes victims to human rights violations, further aggravating their vulnerability. In fact, 98% of the internal displacements that occurred in 2020 were caused by the climate crisis. Despite this alarming figure, victims of such displacement do not enjoy the same rights and protections as traditional refugees. Without an international legal framework recognizing them, these individuals are forced to live in precarious and risky conditions, with no access to basic services or guarantees of safety.
Despite the magnitude of the climate crisis and its devastating impact on millions of people, the lack of an adequate legal framework to protect climate-displaced individuals also means these people do not have access to effective justice or compensation for the damages they have suffered. The absence of a clear legal status prevents climate-displaced individuals from fully exercising their rights, and they are often trapped in a legal limbo that deprives them of humanitarian assistance and the resources necessary to rebuild their lives. Globally, this situation impedes the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in relation to poverty eradication, access to clean water and sanitation, and health. Without proper legal protection, displaced individuals are exposed to further marginalization, which exacerbates the humanitarian crisis linked to climate change.
An integrated approach, which must consider legal protection as an inalienable right, is essential to ensuring that human rights are respected for all individuals, regardless of the cause of their displacement. Furthermore, the international response to climate displacement must be comprehensive, addressing both prevention and protection for the displaced. First, it is essential to implement mitigation policies to halt environmental degradation, promoting solutions such as ecosystem restoration and the promotion of renewable energy. These measures, aimed at reducing the impacts of climate change, are key to preventing future displacements. At the legal level, it is urgent that climate-displaced persons be recognized in international frameworks as subjects of protection, similar to refugees, granting them access to asylum programs and benefits. Furthermore, relocation policies must be designed from a human rights perspective, ensuring access to essential services such as housing, health, and education, and guaranteeing the integration of displaced individuals into new communities. This collaborative, climate justice-based approach is crucial to protecting the rights of displaced persons and ensuring an effective response to the climate crisis. Only through coordinated global action can we address this emergency in a just and sustainable manner.