Beatriz Felipe Pérez is an independent consultant and associate researcher at the Center for Environmental Law Studies in Tarragona, Doctor in Law, and Josep Miquel Prats awardee for the best doctoral thesis. Among other scientific and informative publications, she recently published the monograph “Climate Migrations Before the International Legal Order” (Aranzadi 2019). On this occasion, she has given an interview for Nothing in Exchange, approaching us from a close and global perspective on the direct relationship between climate change and migration, the bases of its legal system and its possible improvements. “In Spain there are already cases in which people have to leave their homes for reasons related to climate crisis.”
“According to the monitoring center report, in 2019 Spain was the second European country with the highest number of displacements associated with climate disasters, which totaled 23,000 in that year.”
What is the cause-effect relationship between climate change and migration?
The impacts of the climate crisis are related to the human mobility in different and countless ways and both directly and indirectly as the underlying cause. In some cases, people have to leave their homes just before or immediately after a flash flood disaster or a cyclone. At other times, such as when sea level rises or droughts are affecting people’s livelihoods, mobility becomes part of a longer-term strategy.
It should be kept in mind in this regard that climate migrations are multi-causal phenomena, not only due to climatic impacts, but depending on the adaptability of the population, the policies, the economic resources available, contact networks, etc. It is also important to keep in mind that many times the most affected people, those who are in the most vulnerable situation, cannot migrate, although they wish to do so. Since they lack the resources to do so, they are known as trapped populations.
What are the figures of global climate migrations?
The issue of numbers is still one of the most controversial debates in the field we are addressing. This is due to many reasons, the lack of an internationally agreed name that allows comparable data to be recorded, the difficulty in separating the causes related to climate change from others and the lack of politician interest in the subject, among others.
Personally, I usually use the figures from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. This organization publishes a report each year that compiles the number of new internal displacements per year due to conflicts and disasters. Although they do not include the transfers that cross international borders or those related to phenomena of gradual degradation, such as sea level rising, the numbers of displacement associated with disasters allow us to have an idea of the magnitude of climate migrations. According to the 2020 report, in 2019 there were 33.4 million new internal displacements worldwide. 75% of these new displacements were due to natural disasters.
What are the places of origin of migrants due to climatic causes?
Climate migrations occur throughout the planet, although it must be kept in mind that they are not homogeneous and that the degree of vulnerability of the people affected is different. Most climatic migrations take place internally. That is, long international transfers are not frequent, but occur. In most cases, they happen within the same country. At present they predominate in countries of the global south, although there are also cases in other regions.
In small island states in the Pacific, for example, the consequences of rising sea levels are causing various populations to relocate. To address this reality, Fiji created in 2019 a trust fund specifically targeted at displaced and relocated populations in the country for climatic reasons. Another of the most evident cases of how the climate crisis is impacting human mobility can be found in Bangladesh, a country where floods are becoming more frequent and thousands of people flee from the coasts to the cities, each time more populated.
“Most climatic migrations take place internally. That is, international transfers are not frequent.”
What is the figure of the environmental refugee?
Currently, the figure of the environmental (or climate) refugee does not exist. Although it is a name used (especially by the media) in legal terms, it is quite controversial. The legal definition of a refugee is established today by the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees and its New York Protocol. This regulation, which is more than 50 years old, came into force at a certain historical moment very different from the current one in which the climate crisis was not so present and did not consider climatic causes as reasons for granting refugee status.
In this regard, it is worth rethinking whether refugee status is really the adequate protection mechanism for those fleeing from climate impacts. We must bear in mind, on the one hand, that it would only be useful in the case of international transfers and that most climatic migrations occur within countries. On the other hand, it usually involves arduous processes in which it has to be shown that the persecution is individualized and the persecuting agent has to be identified, something very complicated when fleeing from the impacts of the climate crisis.
What progress is or isn’t being made in terms of legal protection and in the international framework?
Progress related to the legal protection of those fleeing the climate crisis is still limited. Although there are several proposals that have emerged from academia and civil society, such as the creation of an ad hoc international treaty, progress at the international level continues to be mere proposals. However, at the regional level we can talk about certain progress. In this regard, it is worth noting, for example, the adoption of the Sydney Declaration of Principles on the Protection of Displaced Persons in the Context of Sea Level Rise, adopted in Australia in 2018 and the Free Movement Protocol in East Africa, which contains provisions that allow citizens to move in advance, during or after a disaster between the States belonging to said Protocol. It is also worth noting that in Latin America some countries, such as Peru and Bolivia, have incorporated references to environmental or climatic migration in their internal regulations.
“The progress related to the legal protection of those fleeing the climate crisis is still limited”
What is the situation in Spain?
Although the situation is not as serious as in other countries, in Spain there are already cases in which people have to leave their homes for reasons related to climate crisis. In the latest report of the Monitoring Center on Internal Displacement, they refer to the fact that in 2019 Spain was the second European country with the highest number of displacements associated with natural disasters, which totaled 23,000 in that year. Most were related to fires, storms and floods. A case that is quite striking due to its severity is that of Los Alcázares, in Murcia. In this municipality they are suffering floods with such an alarming frequency that the population is already starting to leave, or at least trying.
What is the relationship between consumer society, resource exploitation and climate migrations?
As we see, climate crisis is an increasingly important direct and indirect push factor and, the origin of it is, without a doubt, a globalized economic model that is based on the burning of fossil fuels and thrives on unsustainable mass-consumption. In this sense, it is also important to highlight that the historical responsibilities of climate change are held by the states of the global north and by companies. There is evidence that only 100 companies, known as Carbon Majors, have generated more than 70% of greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. It is essential to implement serious mitigation measures in order to slow down the engine of displacement that we have been talking about: climate crisis.
What are the challenges in facing climatic migrations in times of COVID-19?
Despite the fact that during the last months the focus has been on the confinements necessary to curb the effects of the pandemic, the factors that influence and drive human mobility have not disappeared. In this sense, in April 2020, Cyclone Harold, for example, affected different small island states in the Pacific. The affected people had to make the difficult decision to stay at home and face the effects of the cyclone or move to temporary shelters, with the associated risk of being in a confined space and getting infected. At these times, moreover, most States closed their borders, which has not stopped people from wanting to cross them either. The virus has come to add a further degree of complexity of the climate migration landscape. Furthermore, the measures that have been taken to curb it have generally had little regard for migrants as a group that is often in a highly vulnerable situation.
“The historical responsibilities of climate change are held by the States of the global North and by companies. The 100 companies known as Carbon Majors have generated more than 70% of greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.”
“Policies and legal frameworks must be advanced and human rights must be respected.”
What reflections or recommendations would you point out in the current scenario?
It is essential to continue to bring visibility to the importance of climate crisis as a factor of displacement for many people throughout the planet, especially in the global South. Although the current effects of the pandemic overshadow other crises and it’s sometimes even difficult to understand, climate crisis is even more serious. We must continue to advocate so that citizens are well informed about climate migration, an issue that has remained invisible for too long. It is also important to bear in mind that women suffer in different ways, from the consequences of climate crisis as well as from migratory processes; so the solutions that are designed must consider gender inequalities that remain unseen throughout the planet. Finally, progress must be made in policies and legal frameworks that ensure, on the one hand, that no one has to leave their place of residence if they do not want to, and, on the other, that the human rights of those who do so are respected.