Falling Through the Protection Gaps: Inappropriate Protection of Climate Displaced Persons in the International Refugee Legal Structure

Authors

Nischala McDonnell, Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University

Document Type

Article

English Abstract

The nexus between climate change and forced human mobility is recognised within the international climate legal framework through the vehicle of loss and damage; however, this nexus is absent in international refugee law. Cross-border climate displaced persons have not yet received official legal status nor protection as a consequence of this legal void in international refugee law. This is largely due to two interconnected and unresolved issues: first, definitional controversy in categorising climate-forced cross-border mobility; and second, the high threshold set by Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention inclusion requirements to receive international protection. Cross-border climate displaced person claims remain undermined by these “protection gaps” in international refugee law. This paper investigates whether the complex interrelationship between human vulnerability, displacement, and climate change is capable of establishing a “tenable pathway to Refugee Convention protection”. 1 The application of attribution science will be recommended in this paper as a novel approach to support the realisation of this nexus in international refugee law. Attribution science functions to establish the causal link between climate change impacts and the consequent loss and damage. It has the capacity to determine responsibility for harms and the potential to reinforce the validity of international protection claims submitted by cross-border climate displaced persons. This utilisation of attribution science aims to assist future cross-border climate displaced persons in attaining legal clarity and certainty on their status in international refugee law. In doing so, this paper argues the current structure of international refugee law offers inappropriate protection to cross-border climate displaced persons.

Citation Information

McDonnell, Nischala. "Falling Through the Protection Gaps: Inappropriate Protection of Climate Displaced Persons in the International Refugee Legal Structure." The Transnational Human Rights Review 10. (2023) :
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2563-4631.1103
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/thr/vol10/iss1/1

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7 Centre for Participatory Research and Development, supra note 2 at 6-7.

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11 See, e.g. Lliuya v RWE AG, [District Court of Essen], 2 O 285/15, 15 December 2016; Lliuya v RWE AG, [Higher Regional Court in Haam] 2 O 285/15, 23 February 2017; Urgenda Foundation v State of the Netherlands, Hoge Raad, ECLI:NL:HR:2019:2007 (20 December 2019); Commune de Grande-Synthe v France, Conseil d'Etat [French Administrative Court], 1 July 2021 reported in [2021] Rec Lebon; Notre Affaire à Tous and Others v France, Tribunal Administratif de Paris (Paris), 1904967:1904968:1904972:1904976/4-1, 14 October 2021; Sharma v Minister for the Environment [2021] FCA 560; Milieudefensie et al v Royal Dutch Shell plc, Rechtbank Den Haag, ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2021:5339 (26 May 2021). See also Rupert Stuart-Smith et al, "Filling the Evidentiary Gap in Climate Litigation" (2021) 11 Nature Climate Change 651.

12 Joanna Apap & Sami James Harju, "The concept of "climate refugee: Towards a possible definition" (2023), online (Briefing Paper) European Parliamentary Research Service 1 at 3.

13 See, e.g. Sumudu Anopama Atapattu, 'A new category of refugees? "Climate refugees" and a gaping hole in international law' in Simon Behrman and Avidan Kent, eds, 'Climate Refugees' Beyond the Legal Impasse? (Routledge, 2018) at 34; Rosemary Lyster, "Protecting the Human Rights of Climate Displaced Persons: The Promise and Limits of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" in Anna Grear and Louis Kotze, eds, Research Handbook on Human Rights and the Environment (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015) at ch 20 https://doi.org/10.4337/9781782544432.00032 ; Jane McAdam, 'Displacement in the Context of Climate Change and Disasters' in Cathryn Costello et al (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Refugee Law (Oxford University Press, 9 June 2021) 832 ("Displacement in Climate Change Context") https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198848639.003.0047; Sanjula Weerasinghe, "In Harm's Way: International Protection in the Context of Nexus Dynamics between Conflict or Violence and Disaster or Climate Change" (December 2018) PPLA/2018/05 UNHCR Legal and Protection Policy Research Series; Benoît Mayer, "Definitions and concepts" in Robert McLeman and Franҫois Gemenne, eds, Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration (London: Routledge, 2018) at 323. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315638843-25

14 See, e.g. Rebecca Hamlin, "The Politics of International Refugee Law and Protection" in Cathryn Costello et al, eds, The Oxford Handbook of International Refugee Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021) at 97. https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198848639.003.0006

15 See, e.g. Jon Henley, "Climate crisis could displace 1.2bn people by 2050, report warns" (9 September 2020), online: [theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/climate-crisis-could-displace-12bn-people-by-2050-report-warns]; International Organisation for Migration, IOM Outlook on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (2014) 38.

16 See Apap & Harju, supra note 12 at 2.

17 Kimberly A Erickson, "Filing the Protection Gaps for Climate Change and Disaster-Induced Migrants" (2022) 25:2 Human Rights Brief 131 at 132.

18 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, supra note 9 at 11, 13-15; Adrienne Anderson et al, "Imminence in Refugee and Human Rights Law: A Misplaced Notion for International Protection" (2019) 68:1 Inti & CLQ 111 at 132-34. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020589318000398

19 See, eg, Pacific Climate Security Assessment Guide (2023) UNDP and PIFS 1 at 8; United Nations, "Climate Change-induced Sea-Level Rise Direct Threat to Millions around World, Secretary-General Tells Security Council" (February 14, 2023) SC/15199 UN Press Release, online: [press.un.org/en/2023/sc15199.doc.htm].

20 See Pacific Climate Security Assessment Guide, supra note 19 at 17.

21 See Kelly Levin et al, "Overcoming the Tragedy of Super Wicked Problems: Constraining Our Future Selves to Ameliorate Global Climate Change" (2012) 45 Policy Sciences 123 at 124 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-012-9151-0; Will Steffen et al, "The Trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration" (2015) 2:1) The Anthropocene Review 81 https://doi.org/10.1177/2053019614564785; Will Steffen et al, "Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene" (2018) 115:33) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 8252 at 8252. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1810141115

22 See, e.g. "In Sudan, conflict and environmental decline go hand in hand' (November 4, 2022) United Nations Environment Programme, online: [unep.org/news-and-stories/story/sudan-conflict-and-environmental-decline-go-hand-hand]; "Syrian Civil War: The Role of Climate Change" Climate Diplomacy, online: [climate-diplomacy.org/case-studies/syrian-civil-war-role-climate-change]; "Conflict and Climate" (July 12, 2022) United Nations Climate Change, online: [unfccc.int/news/conflict-and-climate].

23 See Jane McAdam, "Protecting People Displaced by the Impacts of Climate Change: the UN Human Rights Committee and the Principle of Non-Refoulement" (2020) 114:4 American Journal of International Law 708 at 712 ('Protecting Climate Displaced People'); UNHCR, Legal Considerations Regarding Claims for International Protection Made in the context of Adverse Effects of Climate Change and Disasters (Report, 1 October 2020) at [1] ("Legal Considerations for Protection"); Matthew Scott, "Finding Agency in Adversity: Applying the Refugee Convention in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change" (2016) 35 Refugee Survey Quarterly 26 at 27 ("Finding Agency in Adversity"); Matthew Scott, Climate Change, Disasters and the Refugee Convention (Cambridge University Press, 2020) at ch 7 ("Climate Change"); Weerasinghe, supra note 13; see also, UNHCR, Climate Change, Displacement and Human Rights (UNHCR and OHCHR, 2022) ("Climate, Displacement and Human Rights"); United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, "Disaster", online: [undrr.org/terminology/disaster]. https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdw018

24 See, e.g. UNHCR, Legal Considerations Regarding Claims for International Protection Made in the context of Adverse Effects of Climate Change and Disasters (Report, 1 October 2020) [1] ("Legal Considerations for Protection"); McAdam, "Displacement in Climate Change Context", supra note 13 at 832; Atapattu, supra note 13 at 34.

25 See Nansen Initiative on Disaster-Induce Cross-Border Displacement, Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change (December, 2015) 1 at 14.

26 Apap & Harju, supra note 12 at 2.

27 Internal Displacement and Monitoring Centre, GRID 2019: Global Report on Internal Displacement (Report, May 2019) at 41; McAdam, "Protecting Climate Displaced People", supra note 23 at 711-12.

28 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 189 UNTS 137 (1951) art 1A(2) ('Refugee Convention'); Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 606 UNTS 267 (1967) ("Protocol").

29 See, e.g. Nansen Initiative on Disaster-Induce Cross-Border Displacement, supra note 25; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Doc A/Res/73/151 (2019) GA Res 73/151 at 17, 23-24; Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, UN Doc A/RES/73/195 (2019) GA Res 73/195; New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, UN Doc A/Res/71/1 (2016) GA Res 71/1; Teitiota supra note 1; AF (Kiribati) [2013] NZIPT 900413 (New Zealand) ("AF (Kiribati)").

30 Refugee Convention, supra note 28; Protocol, supra note 28; Camilla Schloss, "Cross-Border Displacement due to Environmental Disaster: A proposal for UN Guiding Principles to fill the legal protection gap" in Simon Behrman and Avidan Kent, eds, 'Climate Refugees' Beyond the Legal Impasse? (London: Routledge, 2018) 243 at 244; See Jane McAdam, Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) at 53, 236 ('Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law').

31 James C Hathaway & Michelle Foster, The Law of Refugee Status (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014) at 362. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511998300

32 See United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Interpreting Article 1 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (2001) 1 at 2; UNHCR, Legal Considerations for Protection, supra note 24 at 4. 33 McAdam, Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law, supra note 30 at 39, 42.

34 McAdam, "Protecting Climate Displaced People", supra note 23 at 719.

35 See Refugee Convention, supra note 28 at arts 1F, 1C(5)-(6); Geogg Gilbert & Anna M Bentajou, "Exclusion" in Cathryn Costello et al, eds, The Oxford Handbook of International Refugee Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021) at 711; see also MIMIA v QAAH of 2004 [2006] HCA 53; SZATV v MIAC [2007] HCA 40; HAGV and NAGW of 2002 v MIMIA (2005) 222 CLR 161.

36 See, e.g. Mayer, , supra note 13 at 323; Centre for Participatory Research and Development, supra note 2 at 6-7; Tamara Wood, "The International and Regional Refugee Definitions Compared" in Cathryn Costello et al, eds, The Oxford Handbook of International Refugee Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021) 625; Lyster, supra note 13 at ch 20.

37 See generally Issa Ibrahim Berchin et al, "Climate change and forced migrations: An effort towards recognising climate refugees" (2017) 84 Geoforum 147 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.06.022; Giovanni Bettini, "And yet it moves! (Climate) migration as a symptom in the Anthropocene" (2019) 14:3 Anthropocene Mobilities 336. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2019.1612613

38 See Benoit Mayer, "Who are 'climate refugees'? Academic engagement in the post-truth era" in Simon Behrman and Avidan Kent, eds, 'Climate Refugees' Beyond the Legal Impasse? (Routledge, 2018) at 91-97 ("Who are 'climate refugees'?"); Luisa Veronis et al, "Environmental change and international migration: A review" in Robert McLeman and Franҫois Gemenne eds, Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration (London: Routledge, 2018) 42 at 54-64 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315638843-4; See also Lydia Ayame Hiraide, "Climate refugees: A useful concept? Towards an alternative vocabulary of ecological displacement" (2023) 43:2 Politics 267. https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957221077257

39 See Mayer, "Who are 'climate refugees'?", supra note 38 at 92-95; Lori M Hunter, "Where do we go from here? Reflections on the future of environmental migration and displacement research" in Robert McLeman & Franҫois Gemenne, eds, Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration (London: Routledge, 2018) at 431-32; Giovanni Bettini, "'Climate migration' proved too political for the Paris Agreement - and rightly so" (December 17, 2015), online: [theconversation.com/climate-migration-proved-too-political-for-the-paris-agreement-and-rightly-so-52133]; Benoit Mayer, "'Environmental Migration' as Advocacy: Is It Going to Work?" (2014) 29:2 Environmentally Induced Displacement and Forced Migration 27; Franҫois Gemenne, "The Refugees of the Anthropocene" in Benoit Mayer & Francois Crepeau, eds, Research Handbook on Climate Change, Migration and the Law (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2017); Francois Crepeau, "One Good Reason to Speak of 'Climate Refugees'" (2015) 49 Forced Migration Rev 70 at 71.

40 See Craig A. Johnson, "Climate, migration and displacement: Exploring the politics of preventative action" in Robert McLeman & François Gemenne, eds, Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration (London: Routledge, 2018) at 345; Ingrid Boas, Climate Migration and Security: Securitisation as a Strategy in Climate Change Politics (London: Routledge, 2015); Ingrid Boas & Delf Rothe, "From conflict to resilience? Explaining recent changes in climate security discourse and practice" (2016) 25:4 Environmental Politics 613; Angela Oels, "Rendering climate change governable by risk: From probability to contingency" (2013) 45 Geoforum 17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2016.1160479

41 Lyster, supra note 13 at 429; see James Morrissey, "Rethinking the 'debate on environmental refugees: from "maximalists and minimalists' to 'proponents and critics'" (2012) 19 J Political Ecology 36 at 42; Stern Mwaklimi Kita & Clionadh Raleigh, "Rhetoric, reality and questions" in Robert McLeman & Franҫois Gemenne, eds, Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration (London: Routledge, 2018) at 363.

42 See Hamlin, supra note 14 at 98-103; Lyster, supra note 13 at 429; Giovanni Bettini, "Climate Barbarians at the Gate? A critique of apocalyptic narrative on 'climate refugees'" (2013) 45 Geoforum 63. See also Patricia Tuitt, False Images: Law's Construction of the Refugee (Pluto Press, 1996); Rebecca Dowd & Jane McAdam, "International Cooperation and Responsibility-Sharing to Protect Refugees: What, Why and How?" (2017) 66 Inti & CLQ 863; Claire Inder, "The Origins of "Burden-Sharing" in the Contemporary Refugee Protection Regime" (2017) 29:4 Intl J Refugee L 523.

43 Apap & Harju, supra note 12 at 5.

44 Lyster, supra note 13 at 447. See Mayer, supra note 13 at 323-26; Andrew Baldwin, Chris Methmann & Delf Rothe, "Securitising "climate refugees": the futurology of climate-induced migration" (2014) 2 Critical Studies on Security 121. https://doi.org/10.1080/21624887.2014.943570

45 See UNHCR, Legal Considerations for Protection, supra note 24 at 3; Weerasinghe, supra note 13 at 10; International Law Association, Sydney Declaration of Principles on the Protection of Persons Displaced in the Context of Sea Level Rise (Resolution, No. 6/2018, August 2018).

46 Foresight (UK Government Office for Science), "Foresight: Migration and Global Environmental Change" (20 October 2011), online (pdf): [assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a74b18840f0b61df4777b6c/11-1116-migration-and-global-environmental-change.pdf] at 9. See UNHCR, Legal Considerations for Protection, supra note 24 at 3-4.

47 See Foresight, supra note 46 at 9; Mayer, "Who are 'climate refugees'?", supra note 38 at 91.

48 See McAdam, "Protecting Climate Displaced People", supra note 23 at 712; UNHCR, Legal Considerations for Protection, supra note 24; Scott, "Finding Agency in Adversity", supra note 23 at 27; Scott, Climate Change, supra note 23 at ch 7; Weerasinghe, supra note 13; Richard Black, Dominic Kniveton & Kerstin Schmidt-Verkerk, "Migration and Climate Change: Toward an Integrated Assessment of Sensitivity" in Thomas Faist & Jeanette Schade, eds, Disentangling Migration and Climate Change: Methodologies, Political Discourses and Human Rights (Dordrecht: Springer, 2013).

49 Walter Kälin & Nina Schrepfer, "Protecting People Crossing Borders in the Context of Climate Change: Normative Gaps and Possible Approaches" (UNHCR Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, PPLA/2012/01, February 2012) at 65-66.

50 Refugee Convention, supra note 28 at art 1A(2).

51 See UNHCR, "Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons" (2010), online (pdf): [unhcr.org/au/media/handbook-protection-internally-displaced-persons-0]; UNHCR, "About internally displaced persons: Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons" (2022), online: [ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-internally-displaced-persons/about-internally-displaced-persons]; McAdam, "Displacement in Climate Change Context", supra note 13 at 835; Hathaway and Foster, supra note 31 at 17-20.

52 See, e.g. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN GAOR, UN Doc A/810 (1948) GA Res 217A (III); International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 999 UNTS 171 (1976) ('ICCPR'); United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 'Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement', UN Doc E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2 (1998); Organisation of African Unity, Convention Governing the Special Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, 1001 UNTS 45 (1974) at art I(2); African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) (2012) at arts 4-5; Hathaway and Foster, supra note 31 at 19. See International Committee of the Red Cross, The Kampala Convention: Key Recommendations Ten Years On (2019) at 7-10.

53 Hathaway and Foster, supra note 31 at 17.

54 Ibid.

55 Alexander Betts, "The Normative Terrain of the Global Refugee Regime" (2015) 29:4 Ethics and International Affairs 363. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0892679415000350

56 See Refugee Convention, supra note 28 at art 1A(2).

57 See Kälin and Schrepfer, supra note 49 at 32; Ibrahim v MIMA (2000) 204 CLR 1.

58 See Luisa Veronis et al, "Environmental change and international migration: A review" in Robert McLeman & Franҫois Gemenne, eds, Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration (London: Routledge, 2018) 42 at 63; McAdam, 'Displacement in Climate Change Context', supra note 13 at 841; AC (Tuvalu) [2014] NZIPT 800517-520 at [70]. See also BG (Fiji) [2012] NZIPT 800091 at paras 84, 148.

59 See Refugee Convention, supra note 28 at art 1C(5). See also Applicant A v MIMA (1997) 190 CLR 225.

60 Atapattu, supra note 13 at 41. See also Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, "An Overview of Statelessness" (October 2021), online (pdf): [law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/3937168/Statelessness_overview_factsheet_Oct_2021.pdf]; Security Council, "Security Council Holds First-Ever Debate on Impact of Climate Change on Peace, Security, Hearing Over 50 Speakers" (April 17, 2007) UN Security Council SC/9000, online: [press.un.org/en/2007/sc9000.doc.htm].

61 Refugee Convention, supra note 28 at art 1A(2).

62 See Hathaway & Foster, supra note 31 at 91, 362; McAdam, "Displacement in Climate Change Context", supra note 13 at 836; Wood, supra note 36 at 629-30; Statement of Mr. Robinson of Israel, UN Doc A/CONF.2/SR.22 (16 July 1951) 6. See also United Nations Human Rights Council, 'Addressing human rights protection gaps in the context of migration and displacement of persons across international borders resulting from the adverse effects of climate change and supporting the adaptation and mitigation plans of developing countries to bridge the protection gaps', UN Doc A/HRC/38/21 (23 April 2018) at 23-24 ["Human Rights Protection Gaps"]; Jane McAdam, 'Climate Change Displacement and International Law: Complementary Protection Standards' (UNHCT Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, PPLA/2011/03, May 2011) at 12-14.

63 Refugee Convention, supra note 28 at art 1A(2). See Calado v MIMA (1997) 81 FCR 450; NABD/2002 v MIMIA [2005] HCA 29; V v MIMA (1999) 92 FCR 355; Applicant A v MIMA 1997) 190 CLR 225; Applicant S v MIMIA [2004] HCA 25; MIMA v Khawar (2002) 210 CLR 1.

64 Hathaway and Foster, supra note 31 at 362.

65 Atapattu, supra note 13 at 41.

66 McAdam, 'Displacement in Climate Change Context', supra note 13 at 837. See AF (Kiribati), supra note 29; Teitiota, supra note 1; Teitiota v The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment [2015] NZSC 107; AF (Tuvalu) [2015] NZIPT 800859; AD (Tuvalu) [2014] NZIPT 501370; AC (Tuvalu) [2014] NZIPT 800517-520. See also Jane McAdam, "The Emerging New Zealand Jurisprudence on Climate Change, Disasters and Displacement" (2015) 3 Migration Studies 131. https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnu055

67 See Ward v Canada (Attorney General) [1993] 2 SCR 689 at para 732; Fornah v Secretary of the State for the Home Department [2007] 1 AC 412 (UKHL, 18 October 2006) at para 97.

68 Chan v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1989) 169 CLR 379 ('Chan').

69 Ibid. See Hathaway and Foster, supra note 31 at 91; Y Shimada, "The Concept of the Political Refugee in International Law" (1975) 19 Japanese Annual of Intl L 24 at 33. James Hathaway & William Hicks, "Is there a Subjective Element in the Refugee Convention's Requirement of "Well-Founded Fear"?" (2005) 26:2 Mich J Intl L 505 at 507, 560-62.

70 Chan, supra note 68; Hathaway and Foster, supra note 31 at 91. See e.g. Susan Kneebone, "Believable Tales: Credibility and proving a 'Well Founded Fear of Persecution'" (2003) 25:3 Migration Action 4; Austin Fragomen, "The Refugee: A Problem of Definition" (1970) 3:1 Case W Res J Intl L 24 at 33.

71 See Hathaway & Foster, supra note 31 at 91. https://doi.org/10.2753/CSP1097-1467310391

72 See McAdam, "Protecting Climate Displaced People", supra note 23 at 713; Human Rights Commissioner, "Teitoia v New Zealand", UN Doc CCPR/C/127/D/2728/2016 (24 October 2019) at 9.6; Anderson et al, supra note 18.

73 See McAdam, "Displacement in Climate Change Context", supra note 13 at 836; AF (Kiribati), supra note 29 at 54. See, e.g. Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ss 5J(4)-(5).

74 See Atapattu, supra note 13 at 41; Stellina Jolly & Nafees Ahmad, "Climate Refugees under International Climate Law and International Refugee Law: Towards Addressing the Protection Gaps and Exploring the Legal Alternatives for Criminal Justice" (2014-2015) 14 ISIL YB Intl Human Law 216 at 240, 227.

75 See McAdam, "Displacement in Climate Change Context", supra note 13 at 836-37; Teitiota v The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment [2014] NZCA 173; Teitiota v The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment [2014] NZAR 688 at para 40. See, e.g. Kälin & Schrepfer, supra note 49 at 31-32.

76 McAdam, "Displacement in Climate Change Context", supra note 13 at 836; McAdam, Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law, supra note 30 at 45.

77 MIEA v Guo (1997) 191 CLR 559; Chan, supra note 68 at 429. See UNHCR, "Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees", UN Doc HCR/IP/4/Eng/Rev.1 (January 1992) at 42.

78 See Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, supra note 9. See also UNHCR, Climate, Displacement and Human Rights, supra note 23 at 1-4; UNHCR, Legal Considerations for Protection, supra note 24 at 1-7; UNHCR, "Human Rights Protection Gaps", supra note 62 at 4-8; Anderson et al, supra note 18 at 114-40. See also Immigration and Naturalisation Service v Cardoza-Fonseca 480 US 421 (1987) at para 44.

79 UNHCR, Climate, Displacement and Human Rights, supra note 23 at 4. See Kälin & Schrepfer, supra note 49 at 64; Kawas-Fernández v Honduras (2009) Inter-American Court of Human Rights [148]. See also UNHCR General Comment No. 36, Article 6: Right to Life, UN Doc CCPR/C/GC/35 (2019) at para 62; UNHCR, "Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees", UN Doc HCR/IP/4/Eng/Rev.4 at 51-55.

80 UNHCR, Climate, Displacement and Human Rights, supra note 23 at 5-6. See also Scott, 'Finding Agency in Adversity', supra note 23 at 26-57; UNHCR, Summary of Deliberations on Climate Change and Displacement (April 2011) 8. See, e.g. Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 5J(5).

81 UNHCR, Climate, Displacement and Human Rights, supra note 23 at 5. See, e.g. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Committee on the Rights of All Migrants Workers and Members of their Families, Committee on the Rights of the Child, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Statement on "Human Rights and Climate Change", UN Doc HRI/2019/1 (14 May 2020).

82 See UNHCR, Climate, Displacement and Human Rights, supra note 23 at 4.

83 See McAdam, "Displacement in Climate Change Context", supra note 13 at 838; ICCPR (n 34) arts 6-7; Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, opened for signature 10 December 1984, 1465 UNTC 85 (entered into force 26 June 1987) art 3(1); Convention on the Rights of the Child, opened for signature 20 November 1989, 1577 UNTS 3 (entered into force 2 September 1990) arts 6, 37.

84 See Refugee Convention, supra note 28 at art 33(1); UNHCR, Advisory Opinion on the Extraterritorial Application of Non-Refoulement Obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol (26 January 2007) [6]-[8] ("Advisory Opinion"). See also Jane McAdam & Fiona Chong, Refugee Rights and Policy Wrongs: A Frank, Up-to-Date Guide by Experts (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2019) at ch 1.

85 See, e.g. UN Human Rights Council, 'Report of the Independent Expert on Issues of Human Rights Obligations relating to the Enjoyment of a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainability Environment, John H Know: Mapping Report', UN Doc A/HRC/25/53 (30 December 2013) [17]; Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 'Mapping Human Rights Obligations relating to the Enjoyment of a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment: Focus Report on Human Rights and Climate Change' (Report, OCHRC, June 2014); HRC, Human Rights and Climate Change, Un Doc A/HRC/RES/26/27 (15 July 2014) at 1-3; UNHCR, Legal Considerations for Protection, supra note 24 at [19]; Human Rights Commissioner, "Teitoia v New Zealand", UN Doc CCPR/C/127/D/2728/2016 (24 October 2019) at 9.11.

86 McAdam, 'Displacement in Climate Change Context', supra note 13 at 839-40. See also McAdam, 'Protecting Climate Displaced People', supra note 23 at 708-25.

87 Hamlin, supra note 14 at 102. See generally David S FitzGerald, Refuge Beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019).

88 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (Assessment Report, August 2021) at annex vii-7; Marjanac & Patton, supra note 10.

89 Burger, Wentz & Horton, supra note 10 at 66.

90 Ibid at 66-67.

91 Ibid at 68.

92 See Kierra Parker, "Litigating at the Source: Attributing Climate Change Impacts to Coal Mines" (2020) 37 Environmental Planning Law Journal 67 at 72; Burger, Wentz & Horton, supra note 10 at 128.

93 See Justice Nicola Pain, "Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: Issues in Domestic Litigation" (6 December 2018), online (speech): [lec.nsw.gov.au/documents/speeches-and-papers/Pain_J_-_Climate_Change_and_Sea_Level_Rise_-_Issues_in_Domestic_Litigation.pdf] at 8.

94 Urgenda Foundation v State of the Netherlands, Hoge Raad, ECLI:NL:HR:2019:2007 (20 December 2019) at paras 5.3.1, 5.6.2.

95 Milieudefensie et al v Royal Dutch Shell plc, Rechtbank Den Haag, ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2021:5339 (26 May 2021) at paras 4.4, 4.4.41-4.4.42.

96 Tessa Khan, "Shell's Historic Loss in The Hague is a Big Turning Point in the Fight Against Big Oil" (1 June, 2012), online: [theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/01/shell-historic-loss-hague-fight-big-oil].

97 Teitiota supra note 1 at para 12.

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