MEV 025: Unit 03 – Climate refugees

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 UNIT 3: CLIMATE REFUGEES

3.1 Introduction

Climate change has emerged as a major driver of human displacement. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, prolonged droughts, and ecosystem degradation are forcing people to abandon their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. These displaced individuals are increasingly referred to as climate refugees, though the term is not formally recognized under international law. Climate-induced migration poses complex humanitarian, legal, and political challenges. This unit explores the causes, impacts, and responses to climate displacement, with special reference to India.

3.2 Objectives

  • To understand the concept and scope of climate refugees.
  • To examine the causes of climate-induced migration.
  • To assess the legal and policy challenges in protecting displaced populations.
  • To analyze the situation of climate refugees in India.
  • To explore possible frameworks for addressing the rights of climate-induced migrants.

3.3 Phenomenon of Climate Refugees

Climate refugees are people who are forced to leave their homes due to sudden or gradual changes in the environment related to climate change. These may include:

  • Rising sea levels that inundate coastal or island communities.
  • Desertification and drought reducing agricultural productivity.
  • Flooding and cyclones destroying infrastructure and homes.
  • Glacial retreat affecting water supply in mountainous regions.

Unlike political refugees, climate refugees currently lack formal recognition under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which complicates their legal protection and resettlement.

Examples:

  • The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is experiencing gradual loss of land due to sea-level rise.
  • The Sundarbans region of India and Bangladesh is seeing communities being displaced by rising tides and salinity intrusion.

3.4 Factors Causing Climate Change Induced Migration

Climate-induced migration is rarely due to a single cause; it is usually the result of interlinked environmental, economic, and social pressures. Key factors include:

  • Slow-onset events: Droughts, sea-level rise, and soil salinization that make livelihoods unsustainable over time.
  • Sudden disasters: Cyclones, floods, wildfires, or landslides that cause immediate displacement.
  • Loss of ecosystem services: Reduction in water availability, fish stock, or forest produce critical for subsistence.
  • Resource conflicts: Scarcity of water or land leading to inter-community tensions and forced migration.

3.4.1 India

India is increasingly vulnerable to climate-induced displacement. Key examples include:

  • Coastal regions like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu are threatened by rising sea levels and tropical cyclones.
  • The Sundarbans, a deltaic region, has already witnessed the submergence of islands like Lohachara and Ghoramara, displacing thousands.
  • Rajasthan and Bundelkhand regions suffer from chronic drought and water stress, pushing people toward urban centers.
  • Northeastern India experiences intensified riverbank erosion and flash floods, particularly in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Himalayan regions like Uttarakhand are experiencing glacier melt and increased risk of landslides, affecting rural mountain communities.

3.5 Protection for Climate Refugees

Currently, climate refugees fall outside the scope of international refugee law, which defines refugees as individuals fleeing persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion. As such, they face limited protection.

Key developments and frameworks include:

  • UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Recognizes displacement as a climate impact and promotes adaptation measures but lacks enforceable protections.
  • Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM): Aims to address loss and damage, including displacement.
  • Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD): Successor to the Nansen Initiative, promotes protection for people displaced by disasters and climate change.
  • Proposed legal instruments: Some scholars and human rights organizations call for a new global treaty or regional mechanisms to recognize and protect climate-induced migrants.

Domestically, many countries, including India, lack clear policies for managing internal climate migration.

3.6 Challenges Faced by Climate Change Induced Migrants

Climate refugees face numerous and compounded challenges:

  1. Lack of legal status: Without international recognition, they are excluded from asylum protections and social security.
  2. Loss of livelihoods: Many are forced to abandon traditional occupations like farming or fishing and work in low-paid urban labor markets.
  3. Urban overcrowding: Influx into cities leads to the growth of informal settlements or slums with poor sanitation and infrastructure.
  4. Identity and cultural dislocation: Displaced communities may lose their language, customs, or spiritual ties to ancestral lands.
  5. Health risks: Poor nutrition, inadequate housing, and exposure to pollution increase vulnerability to disease.
  6. Gendered impacts: Women and children face heightened risk of exploitation, trafficking, and domestic violence during and after displacement.
  7. Political invisibility: Climate-induced migrants often do not receive targeted government support or relocation programs.

3.7 Let Us Sum Up

  • Climate refugees are displaced by environmental events linked to climate change but lack formal legal protection under international refugee law.
  • Migration can be caused by both slow-onset processes (like sea-level rise) and sudden disasters (like floods or storms).
  • India faces growing internal climate migration, particularly in coastal, drought-prone, and Himalayan regions.
  • Existing frameworks like the UNFCCC and PDD acknowledge the issue but do not offer comprehensive protection.
  • Displaced individuals face multiple social, legal, and economic challenges, requiring urgent policy attention and international cooperation.

3.8 Keywords

  1. Climate Refugees – People displaced from their homes due to environmental changes linked to climate change.
  2. Environmental Migration – The movement of people caused by environmental degradation or disasters.
  3. Sea-Level Rise – The increase in global average sea levels due to climate-induced glacial and ice sheet melting and ocean warming.
  4. Desertification – The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically due to drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.
  5. Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) – A UNFCCC mechanism to address loss and damage related to climate impacts, including migration.
  6. Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) – An international initiative to enhance the protection of people displaced by disasters and climate change.
  7. Environmental Justice – The fair treatment of all people with respect to environmental policies, regardless of socioeconomic background.
  8. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) – People who are forced to flee their home but remain within their country’s borders.
  9. Resettlement – The planned relocation of individuals or communities from environmentally hazardous areas.
  10. Adaptation – Adjustments in social, economic, or environmental systems to minimize the damage from climate change.

 

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