Environmental Change and Human Mobility: Trends, Law and Policy

With this paper I focus on international legal norms and organizational roles and relations applicable to migration induced by environmental change. I examine movements stemming directly and indirectly from environmental factors related to climate changeincluding, for example, movements resulting from intensifi ed drought and desertifi cation aff ecting livelihoods, rising sea levels, intensifi ed acute natural disasters, and competition for resources that result in intensifi ed confl ict. The analysis focuses on the extent to which legal and institutional responses aff ect patterns of mobility, especially in slow-onset situations, and the extent to which governance, more generally, aff ects the likelihood that people will migrate as a result of environmental factors, especially in humanitarian emergencies. I conclude that immigration policies, governance, and the level of development in aff ected countries play a crucial role in determining the responses to natural hazards and confl ict. They also help determine if migration poses technical or managerial challenges or presents political challenges. Given the current gaps in appropriate migration policies, more attention needs to be placed on identifying and testing new frameworks for managing potential movements. Attention needs to be given to both sides of the environment and migration nexus: (1) identifying adaptation strategies that allow people to remain where they currently live and work; and (2) identifying migration and relocation strategies that protect people's lives and livelihoods when they are unable to remain.

Annals of the ”Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, Iași, New Series, Sociology and Social Work section, 2020

The movement of people due to environment changes is not a new phenomenon. Despite this, only in the most recent 20 years, the international community has begun to acknowledge it as an unprecedented challenge in terms of sustainable resources involved. All over the world, the number of storms, droughts and floods has tripled in the last 30 years, with devastating effects on communities. The paper presents a brief analysis of global climate change in recent years and human mobility due to this phenomenon. The research is based on international regulations addressing the interdependencies between environmental change and migration. The climate risk management with impact on human mobility involves economic, political, cultural, and demographic factors. It also shows how a devastating natural disaster shapes people's mobility towards a friendlier environment protected shelter. The development of resilience community strategies implies a joint effort of communities and stakeholders in protecting human beings against effects of natural disasters. Résumé Le mouvement des personnes aux changements de l'environnement n'est pas un phénomène nouveau. Malgré cela, la communauté internationale a commencé récemment à reconnaître comme un défi sans précédent en termes de ressources durables impliquées. Partout dans le monde, le nombre de tempêtes, de sécheresses et d'inondations a triplé au cours des 30 dernières années, avec des effets dévastateurs sur les communautés. Le document présente une brève analyse du changement climatique mondial ces dernières années et de la mobilité humaine due à ce phénomène. La recherche est basée sur des réglementations internationales traitant des interdépendances entre le changement environnemental et la migration. La gestion des risques climatiques ayant un impact sur la mobilité humaine implique des facteurs économiques, politiques, culturels et démographiques. C'est aussi une catastrophe naturelle dévastatrice façonne la mobilité des personnes vers un abri protégé plus respectueux de l'environnement. L'élaboration de stratégies communautaires de résilience implique un effort conjoint des communautés et des parties prenantes pour protéger les êtres humains contre les effets des catastrophes naturelles.

Science, Education and Innovations in the Context of Modern Problems, 2025

Climate change has become one of the most prominent issues threatening environmental and human security, with environmental migration being one of its major consequences. This forces many individuals to leave their regions due to natural disasters such as droughts and floods, making migration a global issue that calls for a coordinated international response. In this context, countries, especially those in the Global South, face significant challenges in accommodating environmental refugees. This issue puts pressure on asylum systems, which are often ill-equipped to handle large numbers, and international laws regarding environmental refugees are still lacking, making it difficult to protect these individuals. Despite these challenges, this phenomenon presents an opportunity for international cooperation in formulating sustainable migration policies based on human rights, such as establishing mechanisms for adaptation to climate change and creating safe zones. This research focuses on studying the challenges of environmental migration and how to address them, with an emphasis on providing legal protection for environmental refugees. It also points out that solutions require international cooperation and the development of sustainable migration policies that include mechanisms for adapting to climate change and providing safe areas.

Climate change is increasingly challenging the ability of millions of people to sustain livelihoods as the places where they live become uninhabitable. The relocation of populations as individuals, households, and communities within countries and across international borders demonstrates the complexity of climate change impacts. Looking at the literature, some researchers argue that relocation caused by climate change can be an effective strategy to adapt to localized changes, whereas others argue that the movement away from ones' homeland is more neatly captured in the climate change lexicon as 'loss and damage'. We argue here that the relocation of people as a result of the impacts of climate change can be both adaptation and loss and damage. Drawing on examples from Alaska and Kiribati, we show that dividing this issue between the two concepts is unhelpful in resolving key issues around the types of appropriate support for these transitions to sustain and protect livelihoods and to open up possibilities for self-determined futures.

2020

This book examines whether a global consensus is emerging on climate change and human mobility and presents evidence of a slow-moving but dynamic, step-by-step process of international policy development on climaterelated mobility. Naser reviews the range of solutions offered to address climate-related mobility problems, such as extending the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, adopting an additional protocol to the UNFCCC or creating a new international treaty to support those facing climate-related migration and displacement problems. He examines the accumulating stock of international policies and initiatives relevant to climate-related mobility using a framework of six policy areas: human rights, refugees, climate change, disaster risk reduction, migration, and sustainable development. He uses this framework to define and summarise the main UN actions and milestones on climate-related mobility. Despite the difficult context affecting the global community of worsening climate change impacts and human rights under threat, Naser asserts that the foundations of global consensus on climate-related mobility have been built, particularly in the last decade. This book will be of great relevance to students, scholars and policymakers with an interest in the increasing interface between climate change and human mobility policy issues.