Climate Change Is Fueling Migration. Do Climate Migrants Have Legal Protections? By Mia Prange Last updated December 19, 2022 11:11 am (EST)

Climate change is imposing intolerable extremes on many parts of the world, threatening the livelihoods of tens of millions of people. The worsening problem has stoked the debate over how to classify and protect international climate migrants under international law.

Most climate migration is projected to occur within a country’s borders (internal), but cross-border migration will also rise. In some instances, extremes combined with other factors, such as natural subsidence and oil and gas activities, are displacing entire communities, forcing them to find refuge in different parts of their country or journey across borders. Some researchers project that drought-driven migration in particular could triple this century if international efforts fail to address the growing climate crisis.

Latin America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa are among the regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and could see large increases in both internal and cross-border migration [PDF] as a result. More than half of the developing world’s population lives in these three regions, and many live in vulnerable areas, some of which are already experiencing climate-driven migration crises. The World Bank estimates that these regions could altogether produce 143 million internal climate migrants by 2050. There are no comparable projections for cross-border migration, but natural disasters and slower-moving climate consequences are linked to increased international migration, particularly for those who live near a border.

Climate migrants have some basic rights under existing international human rights law, but advocates say they lack many important protections afforded to other groups, such as refugees. Governments are responsible for any internal climate migrants, but there are few instances in which governments are obligated to protect those crossing borders.

The 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which was created to manage European refugees from World War II, as well as its expansion (via protocol) in 1967, established the fundamental rights of refugees. This more limited classification of people is defined as those fleeing violence or persecution. However, migrants fleeing climate extremes are not currently protected under international law, and there is no consensus on how to legally define them.

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Some experts argue for granting these individuals the same legal status as refugees. Proponents of the classification “climate refugee” point out that such a designation would provide these individuals with expanded protections, including access to legal services and planned relocation. It would also be a signal from wealthier countries, which are most responsible for planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, that there is a global responsibility to help those harmed by climate change.

Others are wary about extending refugee status and prefer to continue categorizing such individuals as “climate migrants,” though this classification would not create any new protections. Some who prefer the broader term “migrant” argue that migration often has multiple causes, and it is difficult to isolate climate change as the primary factor behind a person’s decision to leave their home. Additionally, some experts argue that a special refugee status for climate migrants could end up excluding some of the most vulnerable, such as internal migrants, from protections.

Adaptado de: https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/climate-change-fueling-migration-do-climate-migrants-have-legal-protections. Acesso em: 03 out. 2023.

Considerando as informações contidas no texto, analise as afirmações a seguir:

I. Atualmente, tem-se notado um aumento em movimentos migratórios ligados à mudanças climáticas.
II. Mais da metade da população mundial vive nas regiões mais vulneráveis aos efeitos das mudanças climáticas.
III. A migração climática está aumentando, apesar da redução da emissão de gasescausadores do efeito estufa.
IV. Atualmente, os migrantes que escapam de extremos climáticos estão protegidos por uma lei internacional e, legalmente, já há um consenso sobre como defini-los.

É correto o que se afirma em: