Reconstructing Legal Accountability Mechanisms for Climate-Induced Migration Through Integrative Social-Environmental Justice Frameworks
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70062/greensocial.v1i4.259Keywords:
Climate Adaptation, Climate Migration, Legal Frameworks, Social-Environmental Justice, State AccountabilityAbstract
Climate-induced migration is becoming an increasingly significant global issue, driven by environmental changes such as rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and resource scarcity. Despite its growing importance, current legal frameworks inadequately address the protection of climate migrants, leaving them vulnerable and without clear legal rights. This research aims to propose an integrated social-environmental justice framework to address the legal accountability for climate-induced migration, focusing on the recognition of migrant rights, state responsibilities, and environmental protection. The study uses a comparative legal analysis to examine legal systems across various countries and incorporates field data from climate-vulnerable coastal communities through interviews, surveys, and legal case reviews. The research finds that the proposed framework enhances migrant recognition and clarifies state responsibilities in 70% of reviewed legal cases, offering a more comprehensive solution compared to traditional environmental and human rights approaches. The framework's integration of legal, social, and environmental elements provides a holistic response to climate migration, emphasizing equity and sustainability. However, challenges such as political resistance, fragmented governance, and limited funding hinder full implementation. The study concludes by recommending that governments and international bodies adopt this framework and strengthen their commitment to legal protections and climate adaptation strategies for displaced populations. Further research should focus on refining legal frameworks, addressing implementation barriers, and expanding the scope of social-environmental justice to better support climate migrants.
References
Andreolla Serraglio, D., Cavedon-Capdeville, F. D. S., & Thornton, F. (2024). The multi-dimensional emergence of climate-induced migrants in rights-based litigation in the Global South. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 16(1), 227–247. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huad066
Astorga, M. C. (2022). Migration with dignity and climate justice: Haiyan, climate change, and displacement. In Catholicism in Migration and Diaspora: Cross-Border Filipino Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003282310-10
Behrman, S., & Kent, A. (2024). Climate change and refugees: A challenge to legal frameworks. In Research Handbook on Asylum and Refugee Policy. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802204599.00032
Chauhan, I., & Bedi, H. S. (2023). Exploring legal avenues for the protection of environmental migrants through a rights lens. In Global Climate Change and Environmental Refugees: Nature, Framework and Legality. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24833-7_12
Cheng, C. (2022). Introduction to Section 1: Vulnerable communities, resilience, and climate justice. In The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Cities and Landscapes in the Pacific Rim. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003033530-5
D’Orsi, C., & Naldi, G. J. (2021). Climate-induced displacement in the Sahel: A question of classification. International Review of the Red Cross, 103(918), 1029–1065. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1816383121000941
Flores-Palacios, X., Ahmed, B., & Barbera, C. (2023). Micro-narratives on people’s perception of climate change and its impact on their livelihood and migration: Voices from the indigenous Aymara people in the Bolivian Andes. In Rebuilding Communities After Displacement: Sustainable and Resilience Approaches. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21414-1_2
Foster, S. R., Baptista, A., Nguyen, K. H., Tchen, J., Tedesco, M., & Leichenko, R. (2024). NPCC4: Advancing climate justice in climate adaptation strategies for New York City. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1539(1), 77–126. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15148
Hamza, A., Shi, G., & Hossain, B. (2024). Migration as an adaptation measure to achieve resilient lifestyle in the face of climate-induced drought: Insight from the Thar Desert in Pakistan. Water (Switzerland), 16(18). https://doi.org/10.3390/w16182692
Islam, M. S. (2024). Rethinking climate justice: Insights from environmental sociology. Climate, 12(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/cli12120203
Leal Filho, W., Ayal, D. Y., Chamma, D. D., Kovaleva, M., Nagle Alverio, G., Nzengya, D. M., Mucova, S. A. R., Kalungu, J. W., & Nagy, G. J. (2023). Assessing causes and implications of climate-induced migration in Kenya and Ethiopia. Environmental Science and Policy, 150, 103577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.103577
Marandi, A., & Main, K. L. (2021). Vulnerable city, recipient city, or climate destination? Towards a typology of domestic climate migration impacts in US cities. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 11(3), 465–480. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-021-00712-2
Maxim, A., & Grubert, E. (2022). Anticipating climate-related changes to residential energy burden in the United States: Advance planning for equity and resilience. Environmental Justice, 15(3), 139–148. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2021.0056
Mittal, S., Chandel, A., & Le, T. M. (2024). Social and economic impacts of climate-induced migration and displacement. In Effects of Climate Change on Social and Economic Factors. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-5792-7.ch003
Morris, E., Cousins, J. J., & Feldpausch-Parker, A. (2023). Transformation and recognition: Planning just climate havens in New York State. Environmental Science and Policy, 146, 57–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.05.004
Nishimura, L. (2015). “Climate change migrants”: Impediments to a protection framework and the need to incorporate migration into climate change adaptation strategies. International Journal of Refugee Law, 27(1), 107–134. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eev002
Pazarbaşı, B. (2024). Constructing narratives of climate migration: Analyzing climate change and migration discourse in Turkish news media. Journal of Disaster and Risk, 7(3), 642–658. https://doi.org/10.35341/afet.1379010
Poddar, A. K. (2024). Climate change and migration: Developing policies to address the growing challenge of climate-induced displacement. International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 16(1), 149–170. https://doi.org/10.18848/1835-7156/CGP/v16i01/149-170
Shultz, J. M., Rechkemmer, A., Rai, A., & McManus, K. T. (2019). Public health and mental health implications of environmentally induced forced migration. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 13(2), 116–122. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2018.27
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Green Social: International Journal of Law and Civil Affairs
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
