New EMN inform explores displacement and migration related to disasters, climate change and environmental degradation

As more and more people are affected by climate change, the need to understand and prepare for climate-related migration has increased. This inform aims to complement existing research by providing a broader perspective on how displacement and migration related to disasters, climate change and environmental degradation are being addressed by key national-level initiatives and policies in EMN Member Countries as well as non-EU OECD countries.

Brussels, 8 May 2023

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), extreme weather events, such as abnormally intense rainfall, prolonged droughts, heat waves and cyclones are linked to the displacement of approximately 20 million+ people annually. Despite the fact that more people are affected by climate change, it is difficult to directly link environmental degradation to displacement or people's decision to migrate because of the complex interaction between environmental and other factors that can drive migration.

Although climate change is not mentioned as a reason for a well-founded fear of persecution under the 1951 Refugee Convention, environmental migrants could potentially benefit from the principle of non-refoulement if they were to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment in their country of origin upon return, as prohibited by Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 4 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

In recent years however, there have been some turning points. One of the most significant being the 2015 non-binding decision of the UN Human Rights Committee in the case of Ioane Teitiota which recognises the effects of climate change in the context of states' non-refoulement obligations. After being denied asylum in New Zealand, Mr Teitiota filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee, alleging that New Zealand had violated his right to life by deporting him. Mr Teitiota argued that rising sea levels and other effects of climate change had made Kiribati, his home country uninhabitable. Although the case was dismissed for absence of evidence, it demonstrates the potential applicability of human rights law to environmental cases and that inaction on global warming can lead to non-refoulement obligations.

At the national level, none of the reporting EMN Member Countries, except Italy[1] have specific national legislation in place on climate-related migration and displacement caused by climate change, nor have they implemented or planned any specific measures to host third-country nationals that might be affected by climate change or climate disasters. Several countries, nonetheless, have protection grounds in place that may be invoked in the case of climate-related migration, or that may be used to prevent the return of third-country nationals. The Czech Republic and Lithuania reported that international protection is occasionally granted on other bases, for example on humanitarian grounds. Germany and France, on the other hand, reported that a removal ban can be considered if the danger is sufficiently concrete. This is the case for France where in 2020 an administrative decision taken by the court of Bordeaux revoked the order of a Bangladeshi citizen to leave French territory and gave him a residence permit on the basis of medical grounds because of the air pollution in the applicant's country of origin. The decision, although to some extent climate-related, did not lead to a climate migrant status.

On a global scale, the phenomenon of climate change and environmental degradation is increasingly debated and studied. In some EMN Member Countries, there are national bodies, NGOs and research institutes that deal with primary research and analysis of this phenomenon. Some examples of organisations that have published on the topic are the Hugo Observatory in Belgium, the Potsdam Institute For Climate Impact Research in Germany, the Irish Aid in Ireland and the Swedish National Knowledge Centre for Climate Change Adaptation in Sweden. In general, the issue is also being addressed by an increasing number of EMN Member Countries and non-EU OECD countries, within the framework of development cooperation and humanitarian aid policies. Numerous projects and initiatives with the countries of origin are also taking place, aiming above all to make their populations more prepared and resilient and to reduce the effects of environmental crises.

Learn more ?? https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/new-emn-inform-explores-displacement-and-migration-related-disasters-climate-change-and-2023-05-08_en

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[1] In Italy, the existence of an obligation to grant protection against risks arising from disastrous natural events is recognised in Art. 20 bis of Legislative Decree 286/1998, which states that “whenever the country to which the foreigner should return is in a situation of serious calamity that does not allow the return and stay in safe conditions, the Commissioner shall issue a residence permit for calamity.” However, the lack of a precise definition of “calamity”, the absence of specific criteria, and case-by-case assessment may not ensure uniformity of treatment for similar cases.