Skip to main content

Climate Migration Governance

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

Abstract

This chapter engages with the current political and academic debate on the governance of “climate migration.” It highlights the difficulties of ascribing a unique cause to migration and questions the relevance of distinguishing “climate migration” from other forms of migration. It then exposes the opportunities and challenges of this concept for international cooperation. Finally, it assesses the potential of different policy options. Despite the difficulties related to the attribution of migration to a unique driver, the concept of “climate migration” appears as a powerful communicative strategy to trigger important international and domestic actions with regard to climate change adaptation and to the protection of the rights of migrants, even though a specific legal regime remains unlikely and perhaps undesirable.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bell D (2004) Environmental refugees: what rights? Which duties? Res Publ 10:135–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Betts A (2013) Survival migration: failed governance and the crisis of displacement. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F, Boas I (2010) Preparing for a warmer world: towards a global governance system to protect climate refugees. Glob Environ Polit 10:60–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black R (2001) Environmental refugees: myth or reality? UNHCR Working Paper on New Issues in Refugee Research No. 34

    Google Scholar 

  • Brindal E (2007) Asia Pacific: justice for climate refugees. Altern Law J 32:240–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown O (2007) Eating the dry season: labour mobility as a coping strategy for climate change. In: IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Caney S (2005) Cosmopolitan justice, responsibility, and global climate change. Leiden J Int Law 18:747–775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carens J (1987) Aliens and citizens: the case for open borders. Rev Polit 49:251–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford N (2006) How previous ideas affect later ideas. In: The Oxford handbook of context political analysis. Oxford University Press, Oxford. p 266

    Google Scholar 

  • Crépeau F (2012) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants: climate change and migration. UN General Assembly, doc. A/67/299

    Google Scholar 

  • Crépeau F (2013) Report by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants: global migration governance. UN General Assembly, doc. A/68/283

    Google Scholar 

  • CRIDEAU (2008) Draft convention on the international status of environmentally-displaced persons. Rev Droit Univ Sherbrooke 39:451–505

    Google Scholar 

  • EACH-FOR (2009) Synthesis report of the research project. European Commission, Brussels

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott L (2010) Climate migration and climate migrants: what threat, whose security? In: McAdam J (ed) Climate change and displacement: multidisciplinary perspectives. Hart, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Farbotko C (2005) Tuvalu and climate change: constructions of environmental displacement in the “Sydney Morning Herald”. Geogr Ann Ser B Hum Geogr 87:279–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fassin D (2012) Humanitarian reason: a moral history of the present. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Foresight (2011) Migration and global environmental change: final project report. The Government Office for Science, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardiner S (2011) A perfect moral storm: the ethical tragedy of climate change. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gemenne F (2010) Tuvalu, un laboratoire du changement climatique? Rev Tiers Monde 204:89–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GHA (2013) Global humanitarian assistance report 2013. Development Initiatives, Bristol, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann B (2010) Rethinking climate refugees and climate conflict: rhetoric, reality and the politics of policy discourse. J Int Dev 22:233–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hathaway JC (1990) A reconsideration of the underlying premise of refugee law. Harv Int Law J 31:129–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Hathaway JC (2005) The rights of refugees under international law. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • HRC (2008) Human rights and climate change. Human Rights Council Resolution 7/23

    Google Scholar 

  • HRC (2009) Human rights and climate change. Human Rights Council Resolution 10/4

    Google Scholar 

  • HRC (2011) Human rights and the environment. Human Rights Council Resolution 16/11

    Google Scholar 

  • Hugo G (1996) Environmental concerns and international migration. Int Migr Rev 30:105–131

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hugo G (2011) Future demographic change and its interactions with migration and climate change. Glob Environ Chang 21(1):S21–S33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ielemia A (2007) A threat to our human rights: Tuvalu’s perspective on climate change. UN Chron 44:18

    Google Scholar 

  • ILC (2001) Draft articles on responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts. Yearbook of the International Law Commission, doc. A/56/10

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2014) Working group I contribution to the IPCC fifth assessment report: the physical science basis. International Panel on Climate Change, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Kälin W (2010) Conceptualizing climate-induced displacement. In: McAdam J (ed) Climate change and displacement: multidisciplinary perspectives. Hart, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Kälin W (2012) From the Nansen principles to the Nansen initiative. Forced Migr 41:48–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Kysar DA (2011) What climate change can do about tort law. Environ Law 41:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee E (1966) A theory of migration. Demography 3:47–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubkemann S (2008) Involuntary immobility: on a theoretical invisibility in forced migration studies. J Refug Stud 21:454–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer B (2011) The international legal challenges of climate-induced migration: proposal for an international legal framework. Colo J Int Environ Law Policy 22:357–416

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer B (2012a) Fraternity, responsibility and sustainability: the international legal protection of climate (or environmental) migrants at the crossroads. Supreme Court Law Rev Can 56:723

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer B (2012b) Environmental migration in the Asia-Pacific region: could we hang out sometime? Asian J Int Law 3:101–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer B (2014) “Environmental migration” as advocacy: is it going to work? Refuge Can J Refug 29:2–27

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdam J (2011) Swimming against the tide: why a climate change displacement treaty is not the answer. Int J Refug Law 23:2–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAdam J (2012) Climate change, forced migration, and international law. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McAdam J (2007) Complementary protection in international refugee law. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Morrissey J (2009) Environmental change and forced migration: a state of the art review. Refugee Studies Center, Oxford Department of International Development, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers N (1993) Environmental refugees in a globally warmed world. BioScience 43:752–761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers N (2002) Environmental refugees: a growing phenomenon of the 21st century. Phil Trans R Soc Biol Sci 357:609–613

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers N (2007) Interview. Reported in Christian Aid (2007) Human tide: the red migration crisis. London

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson C (2014) Climate change and the politics of causal reasoning: the case of climate change and migration. Geogr J 180:2–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordhaus W (2007) A review of the Stern review on the economics of climate change. J Econ Lit 45:686–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OHCHR (2009) Report of the Office of the UN OHCHR on the relationship between climate change and human rights. High Commissioner for Human Rights, doc. A/HRC/10/61

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner E, Weisbach D (2010) Climate change justice. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau (1756) Letter to Voltaire (trans: Spang R). Reproduced in http://www.indiana.edu/∼enltnmt/texts/JJR%20letter.html

  • Shue H (1999) Global environment and international inequality. Int Aff 75:531–545

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer P (2004) One world: the ethics of globalization. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Söderblom JD (2008) Climate change: national and regional Security threat multiplier for Australia. Secur Solut 52:58

    Google Scholar 

  • UN Secretary General (2009) Climate change and its possible security implications. UN General Assembly, doc. A/64/350

    Google Scholar 

  • UNFCCC (2010) Cancun agreements: outcome of the work of the ad hoc working group on long-term cooperative action under the convention. In: 16th conference of the parties to the UN framework convention on climate change, decision 1/CP.16, Cancun

    Google Scholar 

  • UNFCCC (2012) Approaches to address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change to enhance adaptive capacity. In: 18th conference of the parties to the UN framework convention on climate change, decision 3/CP.18, Doha

    Google Scholar 

  • UNU (2012) Where the rain falls: global policy report. United Nations University, Bonn

    Google Scholar 

  • Wexler L (2003) The international deployment of shame, second-best responses, and norm entrepreneurship: the campaign to ban landmines and the landmine ban treaty. Ariz J Int Comp Law 20:561

    Google Scholar 

  • Yonetani M (2013) Global estimates 2012: people displaced by disasters. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and Norwegian Refugee Council, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benoît Mayer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Mayer, B. (2014). Climate Migration Governance. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40455-9_112-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40455-9_112-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-40455-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics