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Conceptualizing the Climate Change Migration in South Asia

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Climate Refugees in South Asia

Part of the book series: International Law and the Global South ((ILGS))

Abstract

The climate change migration in South Asia has been silently reshaping the contours of human existence in an unprecedented fashion away from the national and global glare. The 2014 report of the IPCC on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability unequivocally averred that impacts of climate change transpiring on all continents, countries and regions of the world that have presented a catch-22 situation for the humanity in making choices for its survival. Climate change has made catastrophic physical and socio-economic repercussions for the human existence universally and have emerged as the single most significant global sociopolitical and environmental concern. The climate change has been dominating the Global North scenarios in all their ecopolitical permutations, but it has not been prominently figured in the Global South socio-economic and ecocultural settings particularly in the SAARC region that has grown beyond the rubrics of a humanitarian crisis. Thus in the instant chapter, conceptualization of climate change migration has been attempted while critically exploring and evaluating the typology of climate change-induced displacement in South Asia. The emergence of a new class of displaced people called ‘climate refugees’ has been conceptualized with an understanding of its definitional dilemmas and dimensions from a multitude of perspectives. Therefore, it is essential to decipher the science of climate change in the context of South Asia and its susceptibility to climate change that has been causing human displacement and migration in the region.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Paul de Guchteneire, Migration and Climate Change, (Cambridge University Press, 2011) John Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (2nd edn, Harper Collins College 1995) 126.

  2. 2.

    See generally Elena Correa, Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster: Experiences from Latin America (World Bank 2011).

  3. 3.

    Tansen (c. 1500–1586), also referred to as Tan Sen or Mian Tansen, was a prominent figure of North Indian (Hindustani) classical music. Among the legends about Tansen are stories of his bringing down the rains with Raga Megh Malhar and lighting lamps by performing Raga Deepak (The Tune of Lamp).

  4. 4.

    IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, Summaries, Frequently Asked Questions, and Cross-Chapter Boxes. A Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V.R. Barros, D.J. Dokken, K.J. Mach, M.D. Mastrandrea, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi, Y.O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy, S. MacCracken, P.R. Mastrandrea, and L.L. White (eds.)]. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 3.

  5. 5.

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  6. 6.

    Justine Thorton and Silas Beckwith, Environmental Law (2nd edn, Sweet and Maxwell 2004) 3.

  7. 7.

    Richard Lord, Climate Change Liability: Transnational Law and Practice (Cambridge University Press 2012) 5.

  8. 8.

    ESCAP, ‘Overview of the Natural Disasters and their Impacts in Asia and the Pacific 1970–2014’ (Disaster Risk Reduction Section, 2015) 7; ICHPR, ‘Climate Change and Human Rights: A Rough Guide’ (International Council on Human Rights Policy 2008) 1–2.

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  10. 10.

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  11. 11.

    Luca Marchiori and Ingmar Schumacher, ‘When Nature Rebels: International Migration, Climate Change, and Inequality’, (2011) 24(2) J. Popul. Econ, 569-200, 573; Also see Duncan Clark, ‘Which Nations are most Responsible for Climate Change”, The Guardian, (London (21 April 2011)) www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/apr/21/countries-responsible-climate-change accessed 19 December 2017.

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  17. 17.

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  18. 18.

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  19. 19.

    Elizabeth Carabine and Alberto Lemma, IPCC Fifth Assessment Report: What’s in it for South Asia? (Over Seas Development Institute and Climate and Development Knowledge Network 2014) 2.

  20. 20.

    Australian Academy of Science, The Science of Climate Change: Questions and Answers (Australian Academy of Science 2015) 6.

  21. 21.

    IPCC, 2014, (n 4) 4–5.

  22. 22.

    United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (adopted on 20 January 1994) UN Doc A/Res/48/189.

  23. 23.

    Ibid Art 1(2).

  24. 24.

    Neal F Lane (n 17) 149.

  25. 25.

    Certain Scientists, however, have claimed the contrary and contend that natural factors alone are responsible for changes which the earth’s environment is undergoing.

  26. 26.

    Olivier Boucher and Ulrike Lohmann, ‘The sulfate-CCN-cloud albedo effect’ (1995) 47(3) Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology 281–300.

  27. 27.

    Mark Maslin, Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press 2014) 17; also see IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.). IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 2.

  28. 28.

    Martin Beckenhamp, ‘The Social Dilemma of Climate Change: Socio Economic Implications’, in Walter Leal Filho (ed) The Economic, Social and Political Elements of Climate Change (Springer 2010) 143–152; NASA, ‘The Consequences of Climate Change’ (Global climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet) https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ accessed 17 December 2017; Also see Ahmad El Zein and Nour Chehayeb, ‘The Effect of Greenhouse Gases on earth’s Temperature’, (2015) 3(2) IJEMA 74–79, 74.

  29. 29.

    ‘Adoption of the Paris Agreement’ UNFCCC Conference of the Parties Decision 1/CP.21 (30 November–13 December 2015) FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev.1 https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf accessed 20 April 2018.

  30. 30.

    Carabine and Lemma, (n 19) 5.

  31. 31.

    Ulka Kelkar and Suruchi Bhadwal, ‘South Asian Regional Study on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation: Implications for Human Development,” Human Development Occasional Papers (1992–2007), Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2007, 1–47, 427 http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/kelkar_ulka_and_bhadwal_suruchi.pdf accessed 25 December 2017.

  32. 32.

    Ahsan Uddin Ahmed, ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability’ (Climate Change Cell, Department of Environment 2006) 1.

  33. 33.

    Christopher B Field, Vicente R Barros, David Jon Dokken, Katharine J Mach, Michael D Mastrandrea, T Eren Bilir, Monalisa Chatterjee, Kristie L Ebi, Yuka Otsuki Estrada, Robert C Genova, Betelhem Girma, Eric S Kissel, Andrew N Levy, Sandy MacCracken, Patricia R Mastrandrea, and Leslie L White (eds), Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability: Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2014); Carabine and Lemma, (n 19) 5.

  34. 34.

    Carabine and Lemma, (n 19) 5.

  35. 35.

    Ibid.

  36. 36.

    Ibid.

  37. 37.

    Ibid; See also Mohammad Asaduzzaman, Mohammad Reazuddin and AU Ahmed (Eds), Global Climate Change: Bangladesh Episode, Department of Environment (Government of Bangladesh 1997).

  38. 38.

    IPCC, ‘Report on Bangladesh Launch of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’ (Dhaka 6–8 August 2014) https://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Report-on-IPCC-outreach-events-Bangladesh-.pdf accessed 13 April 2018; See also, Helena Wright, ‘What does the IPCC say about Bangladesh?’ Dhaka Tribune (16 February 2015) www.dhakatribune.com/uncategorized/2015/02/16/what-does-the-ipcc-report-say-about-climate-change-in-bangladesh accessed 20 January 2018.

  39. 39.

    Jane McAdam, Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law (OUP 2012) 164; See AM Choudhury, Sharmind Neelormi, DA Quadir, S Mallick and AU Ahmed ‘Socio-economic and Physical Perspective of Water related Vulnerability to Climate Change: Results for Study in Bangladesh’ (2005) 71 Science and Culture 225–238.

  40. 40.

    James Pender, ‘Community-Led Adaptation in Bangladesh’ (2008) 31 Forced Migration Review 54–55; See also, IPCC Working Group, IPCC Second Assessment: Climate Change 1995: A Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 1995) 34 www.ipcc.ch/pdf/climate-changes-1995/ipcc-2nd-assessment/2nd-assessment-en.pdf accessed 20 January 2018; Cleo Paskal, How Climate Change is Pushing the Boundaries of Security and Foreign Policy (The Royal Institute of International Affairs 2007); See also Jane McAdam and Ben Saul, ‘Displacement with Dignity: International Law and Policy Responses to Climate Change Migration and Security in Bangladesh’ (2010) 53 GYIBL, 233–287, 237.

  41. 41.

    India’s Initial National Communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, (Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi 2004) https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/indnc1.pdf accessed 10 March 2018.

  42. 42.

    Jyoti K Parikh and Kirit Parikh, ‘Climate Change: India’s Perceptions, Positions, Policies and Possibilities’ (OECD 2002) 6, www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/1934784.pdf accessed 21 January 2018.

  43. 43.

    Surinder Sud, ‘Agriculture May Decline due to Climate Change’ Business Standard (New Delhi, 21 January 2008) www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/agriculture-may-decline-due-to-climate-change-108012101006_1.html accessed 23 January 2018.

  44. 44.

    ‘India’s Negotiating Position in Various Climate Change Related Fora Strengthened Global Climate Change May Adversely Affect Weather, River Basins, Rainfall, Coastal Areas, Ecosystems, Forestry in India’ (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, 18 June 2004) http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelcontent.aspx?relid=2023 accessed 23 January 2018.

  45. 45.

    Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya, Pradeep Kumar Mool and Basanta Raj Shrestha (Eds), Impact of Climate Change on Himalayan Glaciers and Glacial Lakes Case Studies on GLOF and Associated Hazards in Nepal and Bhutan, (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development 2007) 12.

  46. 46.

    Jack D Ives, Rajendra B Shrestha and Pradeep Kumar Mool, Formation of Glacial Lakes in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas and GLOF Risk Assessment (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development 2010) 5.

  47. 47.

    Madhav Karki, Pradip Mool and Arun Shrestha, ‘Climate Change and its Increasing Impacts in Nepal’ (2009) 3 The Initiation 30–37; Ajaya Dixit, ‘Climate Change in Nepal: Impacts and Adaptive Strategies’ (World Resource Report, 2009) www.wri.org/our-work/project/world-resources-report/climate-change-nepal-impacts-and-adaptive-strategies accessed 21 December 2018.

  48. 48.

    Some seismologists associated with the government of India say that climate change has some influence on occurrence of earthquakes. See Jayanta Basu, ‘Climate Change and earthquake Link Needs More Study’ (thethirdpole.net, 7 October 2016) www.thethirdpole.net/2016/10/07/climate-change-and-earthquake-link-needs-more-study/ accessed on 28 December 2017.

  49. 49.

    John A Church, Neil J White and John R Hunter, ‘Sea-level Rise at Tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean Islands’ (2006) 53 Global and Planetary Change 155; Gemima Harvey, ‘Sinking States: Climate Change and the Pacific’ The Diplomat (22 May 2014) https://thediplomat.com/2014/05/sinking-states-climate-change-and-the-pacific/ accessed 17 December 2017.

  50. 50.

    Michael Gagain, ‘Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, and Artificial Islands: Saving the Maldives’ Statehood and Maritime Claims through the ‘Constitution of the Oceans’ (2012) 23(1) Colo. J. Int’l Envtl. L. & Pol’y 79–120, 80.

  51. 51.

    Ibid; See also Miriam Auer, ‘Does the Republic of Maldives Have the Capability to Handle the Growing Tourism Demand, Whereas Facing the Difficulties of Global Warming?’ (BBA Thesis, Modul University 2012) 27; T.C. Karthikheyan, ‘Environmental Challenges for Maldives’ (2012) 17(2) Sage Journal 343–351; Martin Parry, Osvaldo Canziani, Jean Palutikof, Paul van der Linden and Clair Hanson, Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (CUP 2007).

  52. 52.

    W.A.J.M. De Costa, ‘Adaptation of Agricultural Crop Production to Climate Change: A Policy Framework for Sri Lanka’ (2010) 38(2) J Natn Sci Foundation Sri Lanka 79–89, 80.

  53. 53.

    UNDP, ‘Sri Lanka: Climate Change Adaptation’ (Climate Change Adaptation) www.adaptation-undp.org/explore/sri-lanka accessed 16 December 2017.

  54. 54.

    Editor, ‘Climate Change Threat to Sri Lanka’ The Guardian (13 November 2013) www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/13/climate-change-sri-lanka accessed 15 December 2017.

  55. 55.

    Manpreet Singh, Mala Rao, and Colin D. Butler, ‘Climate Change, health and the Future of Well Being in South Asia’ in Rais Akhtar (Ed), Climate Change and Human Health Scenario in South and Southeast Asia (Springer 2016) 11–27.

  56. 56.

    Ramesh C Dhiman, Scenario of Malaria and Dengue in India: A Way Forward in Rais Akhtar (Ed), Climate Change and Human Health Scenario in South and Southeast Asia (Springer 2016) 91–98.

  57. 57.

    Aditya Dash, ‘Rainfall and Malaria Transmission in North-Eastern India’ (2017) 101(5) Pathogens and Global Health 457–459; See also Koko Warner, Mohamed Hamza, Anthony Oliver-Smith, Fabrice Renaud, and Alex Julca, ‘Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration’ (2010) 55(3) Natural Hazards 689–715.

  58. 58.

    Carabine and Lemma (n 19)5.

  59. 59.

    Ibid.

  60. 60.

    Ibid.

  61. 61.

    World Bank, ‘Why is South Asia vulnerable to Climate Change?’ (Relief Web, 1 December 2009) 1–3 https://reliefweb.int/report/india/why-south-asia-vulnerable-climate-change accessed 19 December 2017.

  62. 62.

    Ibid.

  63. 63.

    Ibid.

  64. 64.

    Donald A Brown, ‘Climate Change Refugees: Law, Human Rights and Ethics’, in Laura Westra and Satvinder Juss (Eds), Towards a Refugee Oriented Right of Asylum (Routledge 2015) 43–66 see also, Colleen Murphy, Paolo Gardoni, Robert McKim, Climate Change and Its Impacts: Risks and Inequalities, (Springer 2018).

  65. 65.

    See UNHCR, ‘Summary of Deliberations on Climate Change and Displacement (Bellagio 22–25 February 2011)’ www.unhcr.org/4da2b5e19.pdf accessed 18 April 2018; Susin Park, ‘Climate Change and the Risk of Statelessness: The Situation of “Sinking Island States”’ (Division of international Protection UNHCR 2011) PPLA/2011/04.

  66. 66.

    Cecilia Tacoli, ‘Crisis or Adaptation? Migration and Climate Change in a Context of High Mobility’ (2009) 21(2) Environ Urban 513–525,513.

  67. 67.

    Ibid.

  68. 68.

    Julie-Anne Richards and Simon Bradshaw, ‘Uprooted by Climate Change Responding to the Growing risk of Climate Displacement’ (Oxfam Briefing Paper 2017) 12 www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/file_attachments/bp-uprooted-climate-change-displacement-021117-en.pdf accessed 23 April 2018.

  69. 69.

    Joanne Runkel and Alexis Conklin, Climate Change, Migration, and Displacement: The Underestimated Disaster (University of Hamburg 2017) 6.

  70. 70.

    Richards and Bradshaw(68) 12.

  71. 71.

    Ibid 12.

  72. 72.

    Catherine Locke, W Neil Adger and P Mick Kelly, ‘Changing Places: Migration’s Social and Environmental Consequences’, (2000) 42(7) Environ Sci Policy for Sust Dev 24–35.

  73. 73.

    Shweta Jayawardhan, ‘Climate Change, Vulnerability, and Displacement’ (2017) 17(1) JSD 103–142, 104; See also Nathan James Bennett, Jessica Blythe, Stephen Tyler and Natalie C Ban, ‘Communities and Change in the Anthropocene: Understanding Social-Ecological Vulnerability and Planning Adaptations to Multiple Interacting Exposures’ (2016) 16(4) Reg. Environ. Change, 907–926, 907; Deepti Samant Raja and Nirmita Narasimhan, ‘Inclusive Disaster and Emergency Management for Persons with Disabilities’ (The Center for Internet and Society, 2013) 3 https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/emergency-services-report.pdf accessed 23 April 2018.

  74. 74.

    Steve Lonergan, ‘The Role of Environmental Degradation in Population Displacement’ (1998) 4 Environmental Change and Security Project Report, 5–15, 8.

  75. 75.

    Ibid, see also Cecilia Tacoli ( 66) 516.

  76. 76.

    Camillo Boano, Roger Zetter and Tim Morris ‘Environmentally Displaced People Understanding the Linkages between Environmental Change, Livelihoods and Forced Migration’ (2008) 1 FMR, Briefing 1, 1–44, 9.

  77. 77.

    Jane McAdam (ed), Climate Change and Displacement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Bloomsbury 2010) 2.

  78. 78.

    UNHCR, ‘Summary of Deliberations on Climate Change and Displacement’ (Bellagio 22–25 February 2011) 2 www.unhcr.org/4da2b5e19.pdf accessed 18 April 2018.

  79. 79.

    Robert A Mcleman, Climate and Human Migration: Past Experiences, Future Challenges (Cambridge University Press 2013); See also Oli Brown, ‘Climate Change and Forced Migration: Observations, Projections and Implications’ Human Development Report 2007/11, 10 http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/brown_oli.pdf accessed 25 April 2018.

  80. 80.

    Ibid.

  81. 81.

    Ibid.

  82. 82.

    Runkel and Conklin (n 69) 6 (Also called migration due to sudden natural disasters and migration linked to gradual changes in the environment); See also Jayawardhan (n 73) 105.

  83. 83.

    Philip Dane Warren, ‘Forced Migration After Paris Cop 21: Evaluating the Climate Change Displacement Coordination Facility’ (2018) 116 (8) Colum. L. Rev, 2103- https://columbialawreview.org/content/forced-migration-after-paris-cop21-evaluating-the-climate-change-displacement-coordination-facility/ accessed 21 April 2018.

  84. 84.

    Sarah Opitz Stapleton, Rebecca Nadin, Charlene Watson and Jan Kellett, Climate Change, Migration and Displacement: The Need for a Risk-Informed and Coherent Approach (UNDP 2017) 9.

  85. 85.

    Jayawardhan (n 73) 103; See also Susana Beatriz Adamo, ‘Vulnerable People in Fragile Lands: Migration and Desertification in the Drylands of Argentina: The Case of the Department of Jáchal’ (Ph.D. thesis, University of Texas at Austin 2003) http://www.file://Users/sau/Downloads/adamosb036.pdf accessed 25 April 2018.

  86. 86.

    Graeme Hugo, ‘Climate Change-Induced Mobility and the Existing Migration Regime in Asia and the Pacific’ in Jane McAdam (ed), Climate Change and Displacement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Bloomsbury Publishing 2010) 9–37.

  87. 87.

    Runkel and Conklin, (n 69) 15.

  88. 88.

    Ibid 9.

  89. 89.

    Ibid.

  90. 90.

    Jon Barnett and Michael Webber, ‘Accommodating Migration to Promote Adaptation to Climate Change’ (2009) World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5270, 6–7 www.researchgate.net/publication/46443903_Accommodating_Migration_to_Promote_Adaptation_to_Climate_Change accessed 23 April 2018; See UNHCR, ‘Forced Displacement in the Context of Climate Change: Challenges for States Under International Law’ (Bonn 1–12 June 2009) (19 May 2009).

  91. 91.

    Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons, UNGA Res 64/162 (18 December 2009) UN Doc A/RES/64/162; Chaloka Beyani ‘Climate Change and Internal Displacement’ (Brookings Institution 2014) 1 www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Climate-Change-and-Internal-Displacement-October-10-2014.pdf accessed 19 April 2018.

  92. 92.

    Government Office for Science London, ‘Migration and Global Environmental Change’ (20 October 2011) 32–33 www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287717/11-1116-migration-and-global-environmental-change.pdf accessed 29 December 2017; Chaloka Beyani (n 91) 4.

  93. 93.

    Chaloka Beyani (n 91) 1.

  94. 94.

    Ibid, See also Rafael Reuven, ‘Climate Change-Induced Migration and Violent Conflict’ (2007) 26(6) Political Geography 656–673.

  95. 95.

    Ibid; Chaloka Beyani (91) 4.

  96. 96.

    The Sub-Continent has a nation like Bangladesh which is often stated to be a country which is likely to be hugely affected by climate change displacement, because it is a classic example of a delta nation which is low-lying and is also densely populated. A big proportion of this population lives in coastal areas or areas which are prone to floods. See Warren (n 83).

  97. 97.

    GRID 2017: The Global Report on Internal Displacement’ (iMDC, 2017) www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2017/ 10 accessed 20 April 2018.

  98. 98.

    Michelle Yonetani, ‘Global Estimates 2014: People Displaced by Disasters’ (iMDC, September 2014) 40 https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/201409-global-estimates.pdf accessed 20 April 2018.

  99. 99.

    Gunvor Jónsson, ‘The Environmental Factor in Migration Dynamics—A Review of African Case Studies’ International Migration Institute, University of Oxford Working Paper 21/2010, 3–4 www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/WP21%20The%20Environmental%20Factor%20in%20Migration%20Dynamics.pdf accessed 21 April 2018.

  100. 100.

    Oli Brown (n 79) 6.

  101. 101.

    Partha S Ghosh, Unwanted and Uprooted: A Political Study of Migrants, Refugees, Stateless and Displaced of South Asia (Sanskriti Publishers 2004).

  102. 102.

    Andrew Morton, Philippe Boncour and Frank Laczko, ‘Human Security Policy Challenges’ (2008) 31 FMR 5.

  103. 103.

    Frank Laczko and Christine Aghazarm (eds), Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Assessing the Evidence (IOM 2009) 15.

  104. 104.

    Catherine Locke, W Neil Adger and P Mick Kelly ‘Changing Places: Migration’s Social and Environmental Consequences’ (2000) 42(7) Environment 24–35.

  105. 105.

    McAdam and Saul(n 40) 237.

  106. 106.

    António Guterres, ‘Migration, Displacement and Planned Relocation’ (UNHCR, 31 December 2012) www.unhcr.org/news/editorial/2012/12/55535d6a9/migration-displacement-planned-relocation.html accessed 22 April 2018.

  107. 107.

    Douglas S Massey, William G Axinn, and Dirgha J Ghimire, ‘Environmental Change and out-Migration: Evidence from Nepal’ (2016) 32(2) Pop. & Env’t 109–136.

  108. 108.

    James Morrissey, ‘Rural–Urban Migration in Ethiopia’ (2008) 31 Forced Migration Review 28, 29; See also Elizabeth Fussell, ‘The Long Term Recovery of New Orleans’ Population after Hurricane Katrina’ (2015) 59(10) Sage Journal 1231–1245 (The review revealed a need for a comprehensive social, spatial and temporal framework for explaining inequality in population recovery and displacement); Binu Jacob, ‘Disaster Mythology and Fact: Hurricane Katrina and Social Attachment’ (2008) 123(5) Public Health Reports 555–565; Kaushal Roy, and Umme Tania Sultana, ‘Climate Change Disasters and Rural poverty: Case of Coastal Bangladesh’ (Third International conference on Bangladesh Environment, Dhaka, January 2010) 13.

  109. 109.

    Md Shamsuddoha, SM Munjurul Hannan Khan, Sajid Raihan and Tanjir Hossain, ‘Displacement and Migration from Climate Hot-spots: Causes and Consequences’ (Center for Participatory Research and Development and Action Aid Bangladesh, Dhaka 2012) 21.

  110. 110.

    Ibid, 20; Richards and Bradshaw (n 68) 10–11 Kaushal Roy(n 108) 13.

  111. 111.

    McAdam and Saul (n 40) 238.

  112. 112.

    Ibid, 240.

  113. 113.

    Ibid, 240.

  114. 114.

    Sanjoy Biswas and Md. Akterul Alam Chowdhury, ‘Climate Change Induced Displacement and Migration in Bangladesh: The Need for Rights Based Solution’ (2012) 157–180, 159 www.mcrg.ac.in/rw%20files/RW39_40/13.pdf accessed 20 January 2018.

  115. 115.

    Ibid.

  116. 116.

    Abrar R. Chowdhury and Syed Nurullah Azad, Coping with Displacement: Riverbank Erosion in North-West Bangladesh (North Bengal Institute for Alternative Research and Advocacy 2004) 33, 34.

  117. 117.

    Justin Ginnetti and Chris Lavell, ‘The Risk of Disaster-Induced Displacement in South Asia’ (IDMC, 2015) 18).

  118. 118.

    Editor, ‘UN expert urges Maldives to tackle displacement caused by climate change’ UN News (21 July 2011) https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382322-un-expert-urges-maldives-tackle-displacement-caused-climate-change accessed 28 December 2017.

  119. 119.

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  120. 120.

    Jayadeva Uyangoda, ‘Ethnic Conflict, the Sri Lankan State and the Tsunami Marin’ in Marion Couldrey and Tim Morris (eds), Tsunami: Learning from the Humanitarian Response (Refugee Center Studies 2005) 30–31.

  121. 121.

    Heidi Brown, ‘Lost Innocence: The tsunami in the Maldives’ in Marion Couldrey and Tim Morris (eds), Tsunami: learning from the humanitarian response (Refugee Center Studies 2005) 48.

  122. 122.

    Ibid 48.

  123. 123.

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  124. 124.

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  125. 125.

    Editor, ‘A Year after Pakistan’s Devastating Floods, UN Continues Effort to Rebuild Lives’ UN News (28 July 2011) https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382952-year-after-pakistans-devastating-floods-un-continues-effort-rebuild-lives accessed 27 December 2017.

  126. 126.

    Ibid.

  127. 127.

    Michelle Yonetani, ‘Global Estimate 2012: People Displaced by Disasters,’ (iMDC, 2013) 15.

  128. 128.

    See also John P Rafferty, ‘Nepal earthquake of 2015’ (Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 April 2018) www.britannica.com/topic/Nepal-earthquake-of-2015 accessed 25 April 2018.

  129. 129.

    Marita Swain, ‘Nepal: One Year after the earthquakes: An End to Displacement is Still Years Away’ (Relief Web, 25 April 2016) https://reliefweb.int/report/nepal/nepal-one-year-after-earthquakes-end-displacement-still-years-away accessed 27 December 2017.

  130. 130.

    Richards and Bradshaw (n 68) 22.

  131. 131.

    Brian Black (ed), Climate Change: An Encyclopedia of Science and History (ABC-CLIO 2013) 290.

  132. 132.

    Eun-Soon Im, Jeremy S Pal and Elfatih AB Eltahir, ‘Deadly Heat Waves Projected in the Densely Populated Agricultural Regions of South Asia’ (2017) 3(8) Science Advances http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/8/e1603322.full accessed 20 December 2017.

  133. 133.

    Justin Worland, ‘Climate Change Will Make Parts of South Asia Unlivable by 2100, Study Says’ Time (2 August 2017) http://time.com/4884648/climate-change-india-temperatures/ accessed 21 April 2018.

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    Tom KR Matthews, Robert L Wilby and Conor Murphy, ‘Communicating the Deadly Consequences of Global Warming for Human Heat Stress’ (2017) 114 (15) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 3861–3866.

  135. 135.

    Richards and Bradshaw (n 68) 23.

  136. 136.

    Justin Worland (n 133).

  137. 137.

    Runkel and Conklin (n 69) 23.

  138. 138.

    ‘Asia’ (Drought Disasters) www.unicef.org/drought/asia.htm accessed 21 April 2018.

  139. 139.

    Clionadh Raleigh, Lisa Jordan and Idean Salehyan ‘Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Migration and Conflict’ (Social Development: The World Bank, 2008) 344.

  140. 140.

    Aromar Revi, ‘Climate Change Risk: An Adaptation and Mitigation Agenda for Indian Cities’ (2008) 20(1) Environ. Urban 207–229, 209.

  141. 141.

    Runkel and Conklin (n 69) 23.

  142. 142.

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  143. 143.

    Chloe Farand, ‘Floods in India Bangldesh, and Nepal Kill 1200 and Leave Millions Homeless’ The Independent (29 August 2017) www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-floods-bangladesh-nepal-deaths-millions-homeless-latest-news-updates-a7919006.html accessed 17 April 2018.

  144. 144.

    Runkel and Conklin (n 69) 19.

  145. 145.

    Ibid, 19.

  146. 146.

    Arpita Bhattacharyya and Michael Werz, Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict in South Asia Rising Tensions and Policy Options across the Subcontinent (Centre for American Progress and Heinrich Boll Stiftung 2012) 2; See Katha Kartiki, ‘Climate Change and Migration: A Case Study from Rural Bangladesh’, (2011) 19(1) Gender & Development 23–37, 24.

  147. 147.

    Runkel and Conklin (n 68) 19.

  148. 148.

    Architesh Panda, ‘Climate Refugees: Implications for India’ (2010) 45(20) EPW 76.

  149. 149.

    Daud S Saba, ‘Afghanistan: Environmental Degradation in a Fragile Ecological Setting’ (2001) 8(4) Int. J. Sust. Dev. World. Eco. 279–289.

  150. 150.

    Runkel and Conklin (n 69) 23.

  151. 151.

    Scott Lockie, ‘Climate Related Disasters and Displacement: Homes for Lost Homes, Lands for Lost Lands’, in Jose Miguel Guzman, George Martine, Gordon McGranahan, Daniel Schensul and Cecilia Tacoli, (eds) Population Dynamics and Climate Change (IIED, UNFPA 2009) 119–132.

  152. 152.

    Teresa Anderson, Md.Shamsuddoha and Ajaya Dixit, ‘Climate Change Knows No Borders: An Analysis of Climate Induced Migration, Protection Gaps and Need for Solidarity in South Asia’ (Action Aid 2016) 17 www.unescogym.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ActionAid_Climate-change-knows-no-borders.pdf accessed 20 April 2018.

  153. 153.

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  154. 154.

    Bhattacharyya and Werz (n 146) 6.

  155. 155.

    Cecilia Tacoli, (n 66) 514.

  156. 156.

    Jane McAdam, Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law (OUP 2012) 164.

  157. 157.

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  158. 158.

    Luca Marchiori and Ingmar Schumacher, ‘When Nature Rebels: International Migration, Climate Change, and Inequality’ (2011) 24(2) J. PoP. Eco, 569–600, 573; See also Justin T. Locke, ‘Climate Change-Induced Migration in the Pacific Region: Sudden Crisis and Long-Term Developments’ (2009) 175(3) Geogr. J., 171–180, 172.

  159. 159.

    Maria Waldinger and Sam Fankhauser, ‘Climate Change and Migration in Developing Countries: Evidence and Implications for PRISE Countries’ (2015) Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, 7 http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/64526/1/Climate-change-and-migration-in-developing-countries_final.pdf accessed 18 April 2018.

  160. 160.

    Richards and Bradshaw (n 68)17.

  161. 161.

    Ibid, 4.

  162. 162.

    Bhattacharyya and Werz (n 146) 4.

  163. 163.

    Richard Black, ‘Environmental Refugees: Myth or Reality?’ (2001) UNHCR, New Issues in Refugee Research Working Paper No 34 www.unhcr.org/research/RESEARCH/3ae6a0d00.pdf accessed 18 April 2018.

  164. 164.

    Clionadh Raleigh, Lisa Jordan and Idean Salehyan ‘Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Migration and Conflict’ (Social Development: The World Bank 2008) 3.

  165. 165.

    Ibid,17.

  166. 166.

    Ibid.

  167. 167.

    Carabine and Lemma (n 19) 18.

  168. 168.

    Clark L Gray and Valerie Mueller, ‘Natural Disasters and Population Mobility in Bangladesh’ (2012) 109(16) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 6000–6005.

  169. 169.

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  170. 170.

    Chowdhury and Azad (n 116) 33–34; See also Biswas and Chowdhury (n 114) 157–180.

  171. 171.

    Saudia Anwer, ‘Climate Refugees in Bangladesh: Understanding the Migration Process at the Local Level’ (Diakonisches Werk der EKD eV for Brot für die Welt, 2012) 23.

  172. 172.

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  173. 173.

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  174. 174.

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  175. 175.

    Kelkar and Bhadwal (n 31) 18.

  176. 176.

    Pratikshya Bohra and Douglas S Massey, ‘Processes of Internal and International Migration from Chitwan, Nepal’ (2009) 43(3) Int Migr Rev 621–651.

  177. 177.

    Frank Laczko and Christine Aghazarm (eds), Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Assessing the Evidence (IOM 2009) 15; Golam Rabbani, Fathimath Shafeeqa, Sanjay Sharma, Assessing the Climate Change Environmental Degradation and Migration Nexus in South Asia (IOM 2017) 172.

  178. 178.

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  179. 179.

    Aromar Revi, ‘Climate Change Risk: An Adaptation and Mitigation Agenda for Indian Cities’ (2008) 20(1) Environment and Urbanization 207–229, 213.

  180. 180.

    Bhattacharyya and Werz (162) 28.

  181. 181.

    D Suba Chandran, ‘Border Management in South Asia: Volatile, Violent and Porus’ (IPCS, 22 August 2013) www.ipcs.org/comm_select.php?articleNo=4096 accessed 23 April 2017.

  182. 182.

    Chandan Kumar Sharma, ‘The Immigration Issue in Assam and Conflicts Around it’ (2012) 13(3) Asian Ethnicity 287–309.

  183. 183.

    Bhattacharyya and Werz (162) 29.

  184. 184.

    Ibid.

  185. 185.

    Chirantan Kumar, ‘Migration and Refugee Issue between India and Bangladesh’ (2009) 1(1) Scholar’s Voice: A New Way of Thinking 64–82, 76.

  186. 186.

    Rajeev Sharma and Ankya Bhushan, ‘Illegal Immigration of Bangladeshis into India: National Security Challenges’ (23rd World Congress of IPSA, Montreal, 19–24 July 2014) 1–24, 12 http://paperroom.ipsa.org/papers/paper_42931.pdf accessed 20 April 2018.

  187. 187.

    Asian Development Bank, Addressing Climate Change and Migration in Asia and the Pacific (Asian Development Bank Manila 2012).

  188. 188.

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  189. 189.

    Frank Biermann and Ingrid Boas, ‘Preparing for a Warmer World: Towards a Global Governance System to Protect Climate Refugees’ (2010) 10(1) ‎Glob. Environ. Politics, 60–88.

  190. 190.

    Angela Williams, ‘Turning the Tide: Recognizing Climate Change Refugees in International Law’ (2008) 30 Law & Poli’y 502–529, 516.

  191. 191.

    James Morrissey, “Rethinking the ‘Debate on Environmental Refugees’: From ‘Maximilists and Minimalists’ to ‘Proponents and Critics.’” (2012) 19(1) JPE 36–49; See also Camillo Boano (n 76) 7.

  192. 192.

    Essam El-Hinnawi, Environmental Refugees (United Nations Environment Programme 1985) 4; See Boano (n 76) 7.

  193. 193.

    Ibid, Hinawi.

  194. 194.

    Norman Myers, ‘Environmental Refugees: a Growing Phenomenon of the 21st Century’ (2002) 357 Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 609–611; See also Boano (n 76) 7.

  195. 195.

    Koko Warner, ‘Global Environmental Change and Migration: Governance Challenges, Global Environmental Change’ (2010) 20(3) Sci. Direct 402–413.

  196. 196.

    Cecilia Tacoli (n 66) 516–517.

  197. 197.

    Colette Mortreux, Jon Barnett, ‘Climate Change, Migration and Adaptation in Funafuti, Tuvalu’ (2009) 19(1) Global. Environ. Chang. 105–112.

  198. 198.

    See UNHCR Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (11 February 1998) UN Doc E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2.

  199. 199.

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  200. 200.

    David Hodgkinson, Tess Burton, Heather Anderson and Lucy Young, ‘The Hour When the Ship Comes in: A Convention for Persons Displaced by Climate Change’ (2010) 36 Monash Univ L Rev 69–120.

  201. 201.

    Jerry I.-H. Hsiao, ‘Climate Refugee and Disappearing states: In Need for a New Legal Regime?’ (2017) 5(5) Cul. Rel. Stud., 268–276, 270.

  202. 202.

    Boano (n 76) 10.

  203. 203.

    Ibid, 10–11.

  204. 204.

    AD (Tuvalu) [2014] NZIPT 501370-371 (New Zealand).

  205. 205.

    Carol Farbotko. ‘Representation and Misrepresentation of Climate Migrants’, in Benoit Mayer and Francois Crepeau (eds), Research Handbook on Climate Change, Migration and the Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2017) 79.

  206. 206.

    Teitiota v Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment SC7/2015 [2015] NZSC 107 (Supreme Court of New Zealand).

  207. 207.

    Kimberley Curtis, ‘Climate Refugees: Explained’ (UN Dispatch, 24 April 2017) www.undispatch.com/climate-refugees-explained/ accessed 27 December 2017, see Carol Farbotko (n 205) 79–80.

  208. 208.

    Under Article 1 (2) of the UNCSR, the term “refugee” shall apply to any person who ‘As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it’.

  209. 209.

    Laura Westra, Environmental Justice and The Rights Of Ecological Refugees (Earthscan 2009) 5; Also see Jayawardhan (n 73) 106.

  210. 210.

    Koko Warner (n 195) 404.

  211. 211.

    Paris Agreement (n 29) Preamble.

  212. 212.

    Ibid; UNHCR ‘COP 22 Technical Inputs: Climate & Disaster Displacement’ (Marrakesh 7–18 November 2016) www.unhcr.org/583455267.pdf accessed 27 April 2018.

  213. 213.

    UNHCR, ‘Frequently Asked Questions on Climate Change and Disaster Displacement’ (UNHCR, 6 November 2016) www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2016/11/581f52dc4/frequently-asked-questions-climate-change-disaster-displacement.html accessed 27 December 2017.

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    Stellina Jolly & Nafees Ahmad

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Jolly, S., Ahmad, N. (2019). Conceptualizing the Climate Change Migration in South Asia. In: Climate Refugees in South Asia. International Law and the Global South. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3137-4_2

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