Routledge Studies in Environmental Migration, Displacement and Resettlement – serie

Climate Change already having serious impacts on the lives of millions of people across the world. These impacts are not only ecological, but also social, economic and legal. Among the most significant of such impacts is climate change-induced migration. The implications of this on human rights raise pressing questions, which require serious scholarly reflection. Drawing together experts in this field, Climate Change, Migration and Human Rights offers a fresh perspective on human rights law and policy issues in the climate change regime by examining the interrelationships between various aspects of human rights, climate change and migration. Three key themes are explored: understanding the concepts of human dignity, human rights and human security; the theoretical nexus between human rights, climate change and migration or displacement; and the practical implications and challenges for lawyers and policy-makers of protecting human dignity in the face of climate change and displacement. The book also includes a series of case studies from Alaska, Bangladesh, Kenya and the Pacific islands which aim to improve our understanding of the theoretical and practical implications of climate change for human rights and migration.This book will be of great interest to scholars of environmental law and policy, human rights law, climate change, and migration and refugee studies.

The West African Sahel is predicted to be heavily affected by climate change in the future. Slow-onset environmental changes, such as increasing rainfall variability and rising temperature, are presumed to worsen the livelihood conditions and to increase the out-migration from the affected regions. Based on qualitative and quantitative data from study areas in Mali and Senegal, this book examines the relationship between population dynamics, livelihoods and environment in the Sahel region, focussing specifically on motives for migration. Critiquing the assumption that environmental stress is the dominating migration driver, the author demonstrates the important role of individual aspirations and social processes, such as educational opportunities and the pull of urban lifestyles. In doing so, the book provides a more nuanced picture of the environment-migration nexus, arguing that slow-onset environmental changes may actually be less important as drivers of migration in the Sahel than they are often depicted in the media and climate change literature. This is a valuable resource for academics and students of environmental sociology, migration and development studies.

This book lifts the taboo on maladaptation, a different driver of environmentally induced migration, which shines a light on the negative consequences arising from the solutions to climate change, adaptation and mitigation policies.Through a systematic analysis and critique of existing mitigation and adaptation polices under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and international development community, and supplemented by a small empirical study in Indonesia, this book catalogues how maladaptation is manufactured under existing climate change solutions. It posits that customary communities in general- and women in particular- are disproportionately affected by the dominant market-driven logics that underscore current climate change solutions adopted by the UNFCCC. The injustice of maladaptation is highlighted as multi-faceted and explored using political, economic, social and ecological lenses, and the concept of environmental reintegration is also explored as a possible solution to this issue. Further possibilities are then presented in the Afterword, as a combination of what the new (post-neoliberalism) conjuncture could potentially look like. This volume will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners of climate change, environmental policy, environmental migration and displacement, development studies, I/NGOs and civil society actors and activists more broadly.

Out-migration might decrease the pressure of population on the environment, but what happens to the communities that manage the local environment when they are weakened by the absence of their members? In an era where community-based natural resource management has emerged as a key hope for sustainable development, this is a crucial question. Building on over a decade of empirical work conducted in Oaxaca, Mexico, Communities Surviving Migration identifies how out-migration can impact rural communities in strongholds of biocultural diversity. It reflects on the possibilities of community self-governance and survival in the likely future of limited additional migration and steady – but low – rural populations, and what different scenarios imply for environmental governance and biodiversity conservation. In this way, the book adds a critical cultural component to the understanding of migration-environment linkages, specifically with respect to environmental change in migrant-sending regions. Responding to the call for more detailed analyses and reporting on migration and environmental change, especially in contexts where rural communities, livelihoods and biodiversity are interconnected, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental migration, development studies, population geography, and Latin American studies.

This book explores who climate refugees are and how environmental justice might be used to overcome legal obstacles preventing them from being recognized at an international level. Francesca Rosignoli begins by exploring the conceptual and complex issues that surround the very existence of climate refugees and investigates the magnitude of the phenomenon in its current and future estimates. Reframing the debate using an environment justice perspective, she examines who has the responsibility of assisting climate refugees (state vs non-state actors), the various legal solutions available and the political scenarios that should be advanced in order to govern this issue in the long term. Overall, Environmental Justice for Climate Refugees presents a critical interrogation of how this specific strand of forced migration is currently categorized by existing legal, ethical and political definitions, and highlights the importance of applying a justice perspective to this issue. Exploring the phenomenon of climate refugees through a multi-disciplinary lens, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental migration and displacement, environmental politics and governance, and refugee studies.

This book explores who climate refugees are and how environmental justice might be used to overcome legal obstacles preventing them from being recognized at an international level. Francesca Rosignoli begins by exploring the conceptual and complex issues that surround the very existence of climate refugees and investigates the magnitude of the phenomenon in its current and future estimates. Reframing the debate using an environment justice perspective, she examines who has the responsibility of assisting climate refugees (state vs non-state actors), the various legal solutions available and the political scenarios that should be advanced in order to govern this issue in the long term. Overall, Environmental Justice for Climate Refugees presents a critical interrogation of how this specific strand of forced migration is currently categorized by existing legal, ethical and political definitions, and highlights the importance of applying a justice perspective to this issue. Exploring the phenomenon of climate refugees through a multi-disciplinary lens, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental migration and displacement, environmental politics and governance, and refugee studies.

This edited volume advances our understanding of climate relocation (or planned retreat), an emerging topic in the fields of climate adaptation and hazard risk, and provides a platform for alternative voices and views on the subject. As the effects of climate change become more severe and widespread, there is a growing conversation about when, where and how people will move. Climate relocation is a controversial adaptation strategy, yet the process can also offer opportunity and hope. This collection grapples with the environmental and social justice dimensions from multiple perspectives, with cases drawn from Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania, South America, and North America. The contributions throughout present unique perspectives, including community organizations, adaptation practitioners, geographers, lawyers, and landscape architects, reflecting on the potential harms and opportunities of climate-induced relocation. Works of art, photos, and quotes from flood survivors are also included, placed between sections to remind the reader of the human element in the adaptation debate. Blending art – photography, poetry, sculpture – with practical reflections and scholarly analyses, this volume provides new insights on a debate that touches us all: how we will live in the future and where?Challenging readers’ pre-conceptions about planned retreat by juxtaposing different disciplines, lenses and media, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, environmental migration and displacement, and environmental justice and equity.The Open Access version of chapter 1, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003141457, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This edited volume advances our understanding of climate relocation (or planned retreat), an emerging topic in the fields of climate adaptation and hazard risk, and provides a platform for alternative voices and views on the subject. As the effects of climate change become more severe and widespread, there is a growing conversation about when, where and how people will move. Climate relocation is a controversial adaptation strategy, yet the process can also offer opportunity and hope. This collection grapples with the environmental and social justice dimensions from multiple perspectives, with cases drawn from Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania, South America, and North America. The contributions throughout present unique perspectives, including community organizations, adaptation practitioners, geographers, lawyers, and landscape architects, reflecting on the potential harms and opportunities of climate-induced relocation. Works of art, photos, and quotes from flood survivors are also included, placed between sections to remind the reader of the human element in the adaptation debate. Blending art – photography, poetry, sculpture – with practical reflections and scholarly analyses, this volume provides new insights on a debate that touches us all: how we will live in the future and where?Challenging readers’ pre-conceptions about planned retreat by juxtaposing different disciplines, lenses and media, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, environmental migration and displacement, and environmental justice and equity.The Open Access version of chapter 1, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003141457, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book lifts the taboo on maladaptation, a different driver of environmentally induced migration, which shines a light on the negative consequences arising from the solutions to climate change, adaptation and mitigation policies.Through a systematic analysis and critique of existing mitigation and adaptation polices under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and international development community, and supplemented by a small empirical study in Indonesia, this book catalogues how maladaptation is manufactured under existing climate change solutions. It posits that customary communities in general- and women in particular- are disproportionately affected by the dominant market-driven logics that underscore current climate change solutions adopted by the UNFCCC. The injustice of maladaptation is highlighted as multi-faceted and explored using political, economic, social and ecological lenses, and the concept of environmental reintegration is also explored as a possible solution to this issue. Further possibilities are then presented in the Afterword, as a combination of what the new (post-neoliberalism) conjuncture could potentially look like. This volume will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners of climate change, environmental policy, environmental migration and displacement, development studies, I/NGOs and civil society actors and activists more broadly.

One of the most significant impacts of climate change is migration. Yet, to date, climate-induced migrants are falling within what has been defined by some as a ‘protection gap’. This book addresses this issue, first by identifying precisely where the gap exists, by reviewing the relevant legal tools that are available for those who are currently, and who will in the future be displaced because of climate change. The authors then address the relevant actors; the identity of those deserving protection (displaced individuals), as well as other bearers of rights (migration-hosting states) and obligations (polluting states). The authors also address head-on the contentious topic of definitions, concluding with the provocative assertion that the term ‘climate refugees’ is indeed correct and should be relied upon. The second part of the book looks to the future by advocating specific legal and institutional pathways. Notably, the authors support the use of international environmental law as the most adequate and suitable regime for the regulation of climate refugees. With respect to the role of institutions, the authors propose a model of ‘cross-governance’, through which a more inclusive and multi-faceted protection regime could be achieved.Addressing the regulation of climate refugees through a unique collaboration between a refugee lawyer and an environmental lawyer, this book will be of great interest to scholars and professionals in fields including international law, environmental studies, refugee studies and international relations.

One of the most significant impacts of climate change is migration. Yet, to date, climate-induced migrants are falling within what has been defined by some as a ‘protection gap’. This book addresses this issue, first by identifying precisely where the gap exists, by reviewing the relevant legal tools that are available for those who are currently, and who will in the future be displaced because of climate change. The authors then address the relevant actors; the identity of those deserving protection (displaced individuals), as well as other bearers of rights (migration-hosting states) and obligations (polluting states). The authors also address head-on the contentious topic of definitions, concluding with the provocative assertion that the term ‘climate refugees’ is indeed correct and should be relied upon. The second part of the book looks to the future by advocating specific legal and institutional pathways. Notably, the authors support the use of international environmental law as the most adequate and suitable regime for the regulation of climate refugees. With respect to the role of institutions, the authors propose a model of ‘cross-governance’, through which a more inclusive and multi-faceted protection regime could be achieved.Addressing the regulation of climate refugees through a unique collaboration between a refugee lawyer and an environmental lawyer, this book will be of great interest to scholars and professionals in fields including international law, environmental studies, refugee studies and international relations.

Academic discussion of climate‑related human mobility has understandably focused on the places where people are especially vulnerable to climate‑related harm: the Global South. Yet, the unique biophysical, legal and socio‑political characteristics of the Nordic region, as well as its roles as both ‘home’ and ‘host’ to climate‑related mobilities, justify its independent attention. Filling this lacuna, this collection is the first to address climate‑related human mobility in the Nordic region. It is a timely and much needed collection, which brings together leading and emerging voices from both academia and practice in a single volume, spanning policy and geographical breadth. Its chapters cover both regional approaches to the global phenomenon of climate mobility, such as the traditional role of the Nordic states as norm entrepreneurs and their representation in multilateral fora, and on‑the‑ground climate impacts unique to this region and their localised responses. Case studies include judicial decision‑making as it relates to climate‑related migration, insights into the local communication of climate risk, changes to Nordic development and climate policy, as well as climate‑related mobilities of Nordic Indigenous Peoples.This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of disaster and climate studies, as well as climate‑related mobility, migration and displacement.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Academic discussion of climate‑related human mobility has understandably focused on the places where people are especially vulnerable to climate‑related harm: the Global South. Yet, the unique biophysical, legal and socio‑political characteristics of the Nordic region, as well as its roles as both ‘home’ and ‘host’ to climate‑related mobilities, justify its independent attention. Filling this lacuna, this collection is the first to address climate‑related human mobility in the Nordic region. It is a timely and much needed collection, which brings together leading and emerging voices from both academia and practice in a single volume, spanning policy and geographical breadth. Its chapters cover both regional approaches to the global phenomenon of climate mobility, such as the traditional role of the Nordic states as norm entrepreneurs and their representation in multilateral fora, and on‑the‑ground climate impacts unique to this region and their localised responses. Case studies include judicial decision‑making as it relates to climate‑related migration, insights into the local communication of climate risk, changes to Nordic development and climate policy, as well as climate‑related mobilities of Nordic Indigenous Peoples.This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of disaster and climate studies, as well as climate‑related mobility, migration and displacement.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Current estimates of the numbers of people who will be forced from their homes as a result of climate change by the middle of the century range from 50 to 200 million. Therefore, even the most optimistic projections envisage a crisis of migration that will dwarf any we have seen so far. And yet attempts to develop legal mechanisms to deal with this impending crisis have reached an impasse that shows little sign of being overcome. This is in spite of the rapidly growing academic study and policy development in the area of climate change generally. 'Climate Refugees': Beyond the Legal Impasse? addresses a fundamental gap in academic literature and policy making – namely the legal ‘no-man’s land’ in which the issue of climate refugees currently resides. Past proposals for the regulation of climate-induced migration are evaluated, inter alia by their original authors, and the volume also looks at current attempts to regulate climate-induced migration, including by officials from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Platform on Displacement Disaster (PDD). Bringing together experts from a variety of academic fields, as well as officials from leading international organisations, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of Environmental Law, Refugee Law, Human Rights Law, Environmental Studies and International Relations.

Current estimates of the numbers of people who will be forced from their homes as a result of climate change by the middle of the century range from 50 to 200 million. Therefore, even the most optimistic projections envisage a crisis of migration that will dwarf any we have seen so far. And yet attempts to develop legal mechanisms to deal with this impending crisis have reached an impasse that shows little sign of being overcome. This is in spite of the rapidly growing academic study and policy development in the area of climate change generally. 'Climate Refugees': Beyond the Legal Impasse? addresses a fundamental gap in academic literature and policy making – namely the legal ‘no-man’s land’ in which the issue of climate refugees currently resides. Past proposals for the regulation of climate-induced migration are evaluated, inter alia by their original authors, and the volume also looks at current attempts to regulate climate-induced migration, including by officials from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Platform on Displacement Disaster (PDD). Bringing together experts from a variety of academic fields, as well as officials from leading international organisations, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of Environmental Law, Refugee Law, Human Rights Law, Environmental Studies and International Relations.

The West African Sahel is predicted to be heavily affected by climate change in the future. Slow-onset environmental changes, such as increasing rainfall variability and rising temperature, are presumed to worsen the livelihood conditions and to increase the out-migration from the affected regions. Based on qualitative and quantitative data from study areas in Mali and Senegal, this book examines the relationship between population dynamics, livelihoods and environment in the Sahel region, focussing specifically on motives for migration. Critiquing the assumption that environmental stress is the dominating migration driver, the author demonstrates the important role of individual aspirations and social processes, such as educational opportunities and the pull of urban lifestyles. In doing so, the book provides a more nuanced picture of the environment-migration nexus, arguing that slow-onset environmental changes may actually be less important as drivers of migration in the Sahel than they are often depicted in the media and climate change literature. This is a valuable resource for academics and students of environmental sociology, migration and development studies.

Climate Change already having serious impacts on the lives of millions of people across the world. These impacts are not only ecological, but also social, economic and legal. Among the most significant of such impacts is climate change-induced migration. The implications of this on human rights raise pressing questions, which require serious scholarly reflection. Drawing together experts in this field, Climate Change, Migration and Human Rights offers a fresh perspective on human rights law and policy issues in the climate change regime by examining the interrelationships between various aspects of human rights, climate change and migration. Three key themes are explored: understanding the concepts of human dignity, human rights and human security; the theoretical nexus between human rights, climate change and migration or displacement; and the practical implications and challenges for lawyers and policy-makers of protecting human dignity in the face of climate change and displacement. The book also includes a series of case studies from Alaska, Bangladesh, Kenya and the Pacific islands which aim to improve our understanding of the theoretical and practical implications of climate change for human rights and migration.This book will be of great interest to scholars of environmental law and policy, human rights law, climate change, and migration and refugee studies.