Moving Beyond Refugee Law: Putting Principles on Climate Mobility into Practice

Abstract

This keynote address considers the role of international protection in the context of climate change and disasters, and how we move from theory to practice in improving the global protection regime. What legal protection exists for people displaced in the context of disasters, environmental degradation and climate change? Are there truly legal gaps, or are there gaps in our thinking about how existing legal frameworks might apply? And is refugee law – or even international protection – the appropriate lens through which to view the issue? What other bodies of law and policy might also be relevant?

Keywords: refugee law, climate change, disasters, human rights law, non-refoulement, climate mobility, migration, international protection