Environmental Refugees A Legal Perspective

Climate change is primarily associated with its physical outcomes, such as extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and desertification. However, these climatic impacts do not only pose a threat to the environment, natural habitat, and biodiversity, but also to society. Environmental migration - as one social aftermath of climate change - is the subject of this thesis. The emergence of environmental refugees is heatedly debated in the media, among policymakers, and in academic writing of various disciplines. The book takes that debate seriously. It does not put the existence of environmental refugees a priori to its analysis, but scrutinizes the different notions critically. The thesis provides a legal analysis of the current situation of environmental refugees embedded in international environmental and international humanitarian law. It further combines international environmental law with political aspects and aspects of legal philosophy. The actual political treatment of environmental refugees on EU-level through the EU-agency Frontex is presented, and ethical considerations concerning the responsibility for climate change are made. The book arrives at the conclusion that, in a globalized world, the facts have mingled. The duties and responsibilities in international law are growing stronger as the world grows together. However, the different bodies of international law need to adjust to this new reality still. Until now, they stand relatively isolated side by side. Thesis. [This master thesis - written by Silke Marie Christiansen - won the author a sponsorship award from the Sponsoring Association to the Masters Degree Program of Environmental Law at the University of Luneburg (VMU)]