Human Mobility Induced by Climate Change: Third Generation of Human Rights
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26422/RIDH.2025.1502.masKeywords:
climate change, human mobility, third generation of human rights, environmental law, sustainable development goals, climate migrantsAbstract
The climate crisis has become one of the greatest threats to human rights in the 21st century, particularly affecting the most vulnerable communities. Climate-induced displacement, whether due to extreme events such as floods and cyclones or gradual processes like desertification, soil erosion, and rising sea levels, is causing forced migrations worldwide. These migrations involve not only the loss of livelihoods and homes but also the violation of fundamental rights such as access to housing, food, water, and healthcare, as well as the loss of cultural identity, as seen in the case of the Indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the communities of Kiribati, the population of the African Sahel, coastal communities in Bangladesh, and the Íquito people. Despite the severity of the crisis, there is no specific international legal framework that recognizes climate refugees. The 1951 Geneva Convention does not include climate change as a ground for refuge, leaving these individuals in legal limbo. Additionally, while the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement are useful, they are not legally binding and do not fully address the emerging needs of climate-displaced persons. This investigation aims to analyze the international legal gap in the protection of people displaced by climate change and propose their recognition as rights-holders under the framework of third-generation human rights.
Downloads
References
Altamirano Rúa, T. (2024). Refugiados ambientales: cambio climático y migración forzada. Fondo Editorial PUCP.
Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados. (1984). Declaración de Cartagena sobre los Refugiados. https://www.acnur.org/sites/default/files/legacy-pdf/5b076ef14.pdf
Arellano Reyes, G. y Silva Santelices, C. (2020). Personas vinculadas al sector agrícola en zonas rurales: migrantes climáticos inminentes. Revista de Derecho Ambiental, (14), 229-256. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-4633.2020.54155
Atapattu, S. 2022). Human Rights Approaches to Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities. Transnational Environmental Law, 11(2), 231-256. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315849683
Rutinwa, B. (2002). The end of asylum? The changing nature of refugee policies in Africa. International Journal of Refugee Law, 14(1), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315849683
Caride Gómez, J. A. y Meira Cartea, P. A. (2019). Educación, ética y cambio climático. Innovación Educativa, (29), 61-76. https://doi.org/10.15304/ie.29.6336
Center for International Environmental Law. (2024). States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: Guidance Provided by the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (August 2024). https://www.ciel.org/reports/human-rights-treaty-bodies-2024/
Elizalde Monteagudo, P. A. (2022). Los ODS y el transporte marítimo en México: el marco legal internacional para alcanzar las metas del ODS 3 buena salud y del ODS 13 acción por el clima. Revista de la Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas, 52(136), 24-38. https://doi.org/10.18566/rfdcp.v52n136.a02
Espinoza, J. C., Sörensson, A. A., Ronchail, J., Marengo, J. A., Segura, H., Yin, Z., Polcher, J., Fita, L., Li, L. y Villalba, R. (2020). Climate change in the Amazon basin: Tipping points, changes in extremes, and impacts on natural and human systems. Environmental Research Letters.
Farbotko, C. y Lazrus, H. (2012). The first climate refugees? Contesting global narratives of climate change in Tuvalu. Global Environmental Change, 22(2), 382-390.
Finer, M., Novoa, S., Weisse, M. J., Petersen, R., Mascaro, J., Souto, T., Stearns, F. y Martinez, R. G. (2018). Combating deforestation: From satellite to intervention. Science, 360(6395), 1303-1305. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat1203
Freier, L. F. (2015). Opening the Door to Environmental Migration: A Proposal for the Recognition of Climate Refugees under the Cartagena Declaration. International Journal of Refugee Law, 27(3), 442-468. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eev035
González Linares, D. (2021). Acción por el clima: una aproximación desde las Ciencias Ambientales al estudio del Cambio Climático. Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales.
Huq, S., Reid, H., Konate, M., Rahman, A., Sokona, Y. y Crick, F. (2015). Climate change impacts in Bangladesh: What climate change means for a country and its people. Climate Change and Development, 6(2), 167-180.
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. (2020). Global Report on Internal Displacement 2020. https://www.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/9219IIED.pdf
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2021). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.
Meira Cartea, P. A., González Gaudiano, E., Gutiérrez Pérez, J. y Martínez Fernández, C. (2017). La educación ante el cambio climático: una perspectiva iberoamericana. Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos.
McAdam, J. (2012). Climate change, forced migration, and international law. Oxford University Press.
McAdam, J. (2020). Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law. Journal of Environmental Law, 32(2), 189-210. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587087.001.0001
Morán Blanco, S. y Díaz Barrado, C. (2020). El objetivo de desarrollo sostenible 11 de la Agenda 2030: ciudades y comunidades sostenibles. Metas, desafíos, políticas y logros. Cuadernos de estrategia, (206), 21-68.
Naciones Unidas. (1948). La Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos. https://www.un.org/es/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
Naciones Unidas. (1951). Convención sobre el Estatuto de los Refugiados. Serie de Tratados, 189, p. 137. https://www.acnur.org/convencion-sobre-el-estatuto-de-los-refugiados-de-1951
Naciones Unidas. (1998). Principios Rectores de los Desplazamientos Internos. Comisión de Derechos Humanos, E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2. https://www.acnur.org/fileadmin/Documentos/BDL/2001/0022.pdf
Naciones Unidas. (2010). La Conferencia de la ONU sobre Cambio Climático en Cancún da como resultado un paquete equilibrado de decisiones, restaura la fe en proceso multilateral (COP16). https://unfccc.int/files/press/news_room/press_releases_and_advisories/application/pdf/pr_20101211_cop16_closing_esp.pdf
Naciones Unidas. (2018). Pacto Mundial para la Migración Segura, Ordenada y Regular. Resolución A/RES/73/195. https://www.acnur.org/es-es/sites/es-es/files/legacy-pdf/6349ad414.pdf
Niang, I. y Ruppel. O. C. (Coords.). (2014). Africa. En Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects (pp. 1199-1265). Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.
Oppenheimer, M., Glavovic, B. C., Hinkel, J., Van de Wal, R., Magnan, A. K., Abd-Elgawad, A., Cai, R., Cifuentes-Jara, M., DeConto, R. M., Ghosh, T., Hay, J., Isla, F., Marzeion, B., Meyssignac, B. y Sebesvari, Z. (2019). Sea Level Rise and Implications for Low-Lying Islands, Coasts and Communities. En Pörtner, H. O., Roberts, D. C., Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Tignor, M., Poloczanska, E., Mintenbeck, K., Alegría, A., Nicolai, M., Okem, A., Petzold, J., Rama, B. y Weyer, N. M. (Eds.), IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (pp. 321-445). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157964.006
Organización de la Unidad Africana. (1969). Convención de la OUA por la que se regulan los aspectos específicos de los problemas de los refugiados en África. https://www.acnur.org/fileadmin/Documentos/BDL/2002/1270.pdf?file=t3/fileadmin/Documentos/BDL/2002/1270
Organización de las Naciones Unidas Mujeres. (2021). Informe anual 2021-2022. https://www.unwomen.org/es/digital-library/annual-report
Organización Internacional para las Migraciones. (2019). Climate Environmental Migration. https://www.migrationdataportal.org/themes/environmental-migration
Orta-Martínez, M., Finer, M., Anticona, C., Zwetsloot, J. y Rosa, J. (2018). Tracking the impacts of oil spills in the Amazon rainforest: A case study of the Peruvian Amazon. Environmental Science & Technology, 52(3), 1234-1245.
Ortale, M. S. (2020). ¿Hambre Cero? Diagnóstico, perspectivas y desafíos. Ciencia, Tecnología y Política, 3(5), 043. https://doi.org/10.24215/26183188e043
Palacios Sanabria, M. T. (2015). El desplazamiento forzado por causas ambientales: un desafío para el derecho internacional. Revista de Derecho, 44, 14-39. https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=es&user=94Roi2gAAAAJ&citation_for_view=94Roi2gAAAAJ:Tyk-4Ss8FVUC
Rahman, M. M., Islam, M. N., Ahmed, A. U. y Georgi, F. (2018). Riverbank erosion and migration in Bangladesh: A case study of Chandpur district. Journal of Environmental Management, 214(1), 345-355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.041
Rodrigo-Cano, D., Picó, M. J. y Dimuro, G. (2019). Los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible como marco para la acción y la intervención social y ambiental. Retos Revista de Ciencias de la Administración y Economía, 9(17), 25-36. https://doi.org/10.17163/ret.n17.2019.02
Rutinwa, B. (2002). The End of Asylum? The Changing Nature of Refugee Policies in Africa. International Journal of Refugee Law, 14(1), 1-29. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45053462
Salazar, J. F., Villamil, J. C. y Cruz, W. E. I. (2019). Colombia, ¿alineándose al cumplimiento del objetivo de desarrollo sostenible n°6 sobre agua limpia y saneamiento? Revista P+L, 14(2), 108-123.
Sánchez, Y. C. (2019). The 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the European convention on human rights: could the reform of its protection system influence the implementation of SDG 16 (“peace, justice and strong institutions”)? Revista Electrónica de Estudios Internacionales, 37. https://doi.org/10.17103/reei.37.04
Silva, C. M. A., Ferreira, A. B. S., Leão, A. P. da S., Silva, G. P. G. da, Estevam, S. M., Tourem, R. V., Nascimento, L. D., Eccard, A. F. C., Durigon, S., Borges , M. E. A. y Silva, L. H. P. da. (2024). The evolution of sustainable awareness through key historical milestones. https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2023.001-020
Sporchia, F., Antonelli, M., Tuninetti, M., Mazzocchi, G., Piccoli, A., Riccaboni, A. y Sferra, F. (2024). Zero hunger: Future challenges and the way forward towards the achievement of sustainable development goal 2. Sustainable Earth Reviews, 7(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42055-024-00078-7
Torre Cantalapiedra, E. (2024). Políticas migratorias para la protección de los migrantes climáticos en México. Norteamérica, Revista Académica del CISAN-UNAM, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.22201/cisan.24487228e.2025.1.685
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2021). Climate change and displacement in the Sahel. https://www.unhcr.org/what-we-do/build-better-futures/climate-change-and-displacement
United Nations Human Rights Committee. (2020). Ioane Teitiota v. New Zealand. Communication No. 2728/2016. https://juris.ohchr.org/casedetails/2798/en-US
Woodroffe, C. D. (2008). Reef-island topography and the vulnerability of atolls to sea-level rise. Global and Planetary Change, 62(1-2), 77-96.
World Bank. (2018). Bangladesh: Enhancing Coastal Resilience in a Changing Climate. https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099552209012279085
Yaelle, A. (2019). La Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible y el Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos: ¿Podría la reforma de su sistema de protección influir en la implementación del ODS 16 ("Paz, justicia e instituciones sólidas")? Revista Electrónica de Estudios Internacionales. https://doi.org/10.17103/reei.37.04
Zetter, R. y Morrissey, J. (2021). Environmental Displacement and Climate Change: The Role of International Law. International Journal of Refugee
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Yulia Johanna Masabanda Andreeva
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This journal and its articles are published under the Creative Commons Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirDerivadasIgual 2.5 (Argentina) (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 AR) license, which allows the user to download, share, copy and redistribute the material in any format, provided the user can reliably prove his/her condition and provides a link to the license, and allows remixing, transforming and building upon the material, with the contribution being distributed under the same license as the original. Said license does not authorize the use of the contents for commercial purposes.
_(1)_.png)
_(2).png){kind=logo}
