Environmental migration

Environmental migration is the “movement of persons or groups of persons [environmental migrants] who, predominantly for reasons of sudden or progressive changes in the environment that adversely affect their lives or living conditions, are forced to leave their places of habitual residence, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who move within or outside their country of origin or habitual residence”. Climate migration is a type of environmental migration whereby the changes in environment leading to migration are caused by climate change (IOM, 2019). There is a growing consensus among international organizations that environmental migrants should not be referred to as “climate refugees” or “environmental refugees” as environmental migration is mainly internal and not necessarily forced. While there is no legal category for environmental migrants in the 1951 Refugee Convention, there are several regional and national protection frameworks for those displaced internationally due to disasters. 

Disaster displacement refers to situations where people, i.e., environmentally displaced persons, are forced to leave their residence as a result of the effects of disasters, regardless of whether displacement is self-imposed or ordered by authorities or whether it takes place within or across international borders (The Nansen Initiative, 2015). According to data from the International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) 53% of the 60.9 million new internal displacements in 2022 were caused by disasters (IDMC, 2023).

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Working Group (2008) developed a typology of climate change induced displacement which distinguishes between displacement caused by:

  1. hydro-meteorological disasters, such as flooding, hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones or mudslides;
  2. the designation of high-risk zones by government authorities as too dangerous for inhabitation;
  3. environmental degradation and slow-onset disasters (e.g. reduction of water availability, desertification, long-term effects of recurrent flooding, sinking costal zones, increased salination of ground-water and soil etc.);
  4. “sinking” small island states caused by rising sea levels;
  5. armed conflict and violence triggered by a decrease in essential resources caused by climate change.

Existing human rights norms and The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement provide protection for those forcibly displaced inside their own country by sudden hydro-meteorological disasters or because their place of residence has been declared a high-risk zone. Furthermore, existing international law provides protection for persons displaced by armed conflict triggered by climate change, regardless of whether they cross an international border or not. However, persons moving across an international border in the wake of sudden-onset disasters or the designation of their usual place of residence as a high-risk zone, persons moving inside or outside their country as a result of slow-onset disasters, and persons leaving sinking island states are not protected by existing displacement frameworks. The IASC Working Group (2008) therefore recommends that the identification of persons forcibly displaced by climate change should not be based on the subjective/declared reasons for migration but rather a consideration of whether the circumstances and the vulnerabilities of the person prevent them from going back to their original homes.

Summary box: who should be considered as environmental migrants (i.e., forcibly displaced for reasons related to climate change) (IASC, 2008)

-Persons displaced either within or across international borders as a consequence of climate change) or environmentally-related reasons) who cannot return to their usual place of residence for factual or legal reasons;

-Persons not falling into the above categories are not considered victims of forced movement and should not be of concern to the international community as a special category, but may still benefit from protection and assistance under other frameworks addressing the specific needs of migrants;

-Persons displaced by armed conflict or general violence triggered by climate change or environmentally-related factors are considered refugees or IDPs.