Climate refugees in international law

Abstract

Displacements caused by climate-related events have been on the rise throughout the last decades. The effects of climate change in displacement of people is still a field in construction. The people displaced due to the environment were first denominated as "climate refugees" or "environmental refugees". This thesis aims to examine the protection of the so-called "climate refugee" under international law. The main issue of the thesis relies on the fact that there is no general agreement on the refugee status of the "climate refugees". The refugee regime has the 1951 Convention as its cornerstone, and as such, the analysis of the Convention is crucial to comprehend who can be a refugee. The 1951 Convention is not the only legal instrument in the refugee regime. There are other legal documents capable of guaranteeing protection for refugees. This thesis discusses two other relevant legal instruments dealing with refugee protection: the OAU Convention and the Cartagena Declaration. It analyzes the refugee definitions and the main features of these specific documents. The three documents will be used to establish what sort of protection the "climate refugees" are entitled to under international law. The thesis will use two judicial decisions to evaluate the hypothesis of "climate refugee" being...