Q&A: Climate-Driven Migrants Raise Thorny Legal Issues

(Inter Press Service) August 16, 2011 – As the effects of accelerating climate change ripple outward, pushing millions from their land and homes, experts warn that international human rights and refugee law needs to catch up to the reality on the ground if migrants are to be given adequate protection and support. The 1998 Guiding Principles […]

News: "Last Straw" Pushes Millions from Their Homes

(Inter Press Service) August 11, 2011 – With political will to dramatically cut the world’s greenhouse gas emissions failing to materialise, a multi-pronged approach is needed to protect the millions of people who are being displaced as a result of environmental factors driven largely by climate change, experts say. “Climate change is looming as a […]

News: Syria’s Woes Paint Picture of Environmental Migration to Come

(AlertNet) August 1, 2011 – The political turmoils in Syria, along with Egypt and other countries in the Middle East, have entangled the international community and served as a major test of global governance. Syria’s political difficulties have lead to such problems as a stream of refugees fleeing to the Turkish border, exacerbated sectarian tensions and contributed to […]

News: Gregory Wannier Analyzes the Legal Implications of Sea-Level Rise

(chinadialogue) July 11, 2011 – In December 2008, a series of swells coinciding with seasonal high (“king”) tide engulfed the island atoll of Majuro, capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. These waves washed out roads and low-lying houses, forced a state of emergency and caused over US$1.5 million […]

News: Millions May Soon Be Fleeing the Floodwaters

(Inter Press Service) June 9, 2011 – Mass migration will inevitably be part of human adaptation to climate change, experts agree, since parts of the world will become uninhabitable in the com ing decades. Last year, 38 million people were displaced by climate-related disasters such as the flooding in Pakistan and China. “Human displacement due […]

News: World Needs Refugee Re-think for Climate Victims: U.N.

(Reuters) June 6, 2011 – The world must invent new ways to protect people driven from their homes by climate change without copying safeguards for those uprooted by wars or persecution, the head of the U.N. refugee agency said on Monday. “There is a protection gap in the international system that needs to be addressed,” […]