Blog post by Luis Alejandro Pebe Muñoz, member of the Institute of Democracy and Human Rights at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (IDEHPUCP) and the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (GRIDEH).
In recent years, the climate crisis has become an issue of paramount importance for the international community. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, climate change manifests through dramatic temperature variations that generate severe weather events, including heavy rainfall, prolonged droughts, intense heat waves, and devastating cyclones, resulting in an estimated 90 million of the current 123 million forcibly displaced persons residing in areas highly vulnerable to climate-related risks by mid-2024.
In this context, various branches of international law must adopt approaches that address its multiple socio-economic and geo-political implications. In particular, international human rights law and international refugee law play a fundamental role in protecting those affected by this global phenomenon.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has recently adopted the Resolution on human mobility induced by climate change (hereinafter, the “Resolution“), which addresses, among other issues, the relationship between refugees and the climate crisis. The aim of this text is to analyze the impact of the Resolution within the framework of international refugee law, evaluating its contribution to the development and strengthening of international protection for refugees in the context of climate change.
Refugees and the climate crisis: Fundamental principles for comprehensive protection
The key principles in the Resolution represent a significant transformation in International Refugee Law, overcoming the limitations of its traditional approach and minimal protection. While the 1951 Refugee Convention does not recognize climate change as a basis for refugee status—leaving climate-displaced populations vulnerable—new frameworks such as the Kampala Convention and Global Compact on Refugees have emerged to bridge this critical gap in protection.
By establishing a more flexible and comprehensive system, the Resolution addresses the complexity of climate-induced mobility, promoting convergence with international human rights law. This shift expands protection, strengthens the principle of non-refoulement, and recognizes economic, social, and cultural rights within the protection framework, ensuring that refugees and climate-displaced individuals benefit from these essential rights.
On one hand, point 1 of the Resolution establishes fundamental principles that modify the traditional approach to international protection. Essentially, it requires countries to ensure that all individuals affected by climate change and environmental disasters receive equal treatment and the protection of their rights, without any discrimination, regardless of the reasons or circumstances that led to their displacement. This provision is crucial as it removes traditional barriers between different forms of human mobility within the rights protection framework, particularly in the climate context, thereby extending protection to refugees who have fled due to environmental disasters or extreme environmental degradation.
On the other hand, point 69 of the Resolution introduces an essential innovation by outlining a comprehensive framework of obligations. These include the obligation to integrate climate-displaced individuals into mobility policies, ensure access to economic, social, and cultural rights regardless of migratory status, and uphold the principle of non-refoulement, complemented by regularization options. This holistic approach breaks with the fragmented vision of rights, proposing a new paradigm of comprehensive protection for individuals affected by the effects of climate change, including refugees, who require a coherent and organized response to the growing climate crisis.
Reconfiguring refugee protection: Innovations in International Law for addressing the climate crisis
The innovation and transformation in international refugee law are evident in the way the Resolution reconfigures the traditional approach to human mobility, incorporating innovative elements into the protection of refugees. Through renewed interpretations and reformed procedural approaches, a more inclusive and flexible normative framework is established, designed to address contemporary challenges, such as the climate crisis.
Points 28 and 29 of the Resolution mark a milestone in the evolution of international refugee law by significantly expanding the traditional interpretation of the right to asylum. This expansion is realized through the formal integration of climate change as a factor that may trigger the need for international protection. The innovation is particularly relevant in linking socio-environmental disasters with the classical categories of persecution established in the 1951 Refugee Convention, thus expanding the refugee definition according to the 1984 Cartagena Declaration to include disturbances of public order caused by climate factors.
Points 30, 31, and 32 of the Resolution introduce a fundamental contribution by incorporating the concept of “multicausality” in the analysis of asylum claims, representing a paradigmatic shift in the field. This approach recognizes that climate change does not act in isolation but interacts with other factors such as gender, sexual orientation, discrimination, and armed conflicts. The complexity of this interaction requires that asylum systems develop new methodologies to evaluate more complex and multifaceted claims, including specific training for authorities in this area.
Points 33, 34, and 35 of the Resolution establish new procedural standards that transform the international practice of refugee law. These include ensuring fair and efficient processes, adopting a broad concept of family that facilitates family reunification, and establishing flexible criteria for collecting evidence on climate impacts. These provisions create a new framework for handling climate-related asylum cases, setting precedents that could be adopted beyond the Inter-American Human Rights System.
Final reflections
The contributions of the Resolution are essential for the advancement of both international refugee law and international human rights law. The intersection of these two branches of international law results in an innovative normative framework that addresses the complexity of human mobility caused by climate change. The Resolution illustrates how the interaction between international refugee law and international human rights law can generate adaptive normative responses to contemporary challenges. This synergy not only expands the scope of international protection but also strengthens the capacity of the regional human rights system to confront the climate crisis.
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