Human rights approach to climate change and migration

Abstrakti

Climate change and migration is an emergent field of research and policy. Solutions are called for in international fora, and human rights are often mentioned as guiding principles. However, it does not seem to be clear, what a human rights approach to climate change and migration actually means. The discussion is still fragmented
between different academic disciplines, administrative sectors and fields of law. It is thus important to clarify the commonly used concepts and recognize different approaches. The objective of this article is to contribute to the discussion on the nexus between climate change, migration and human rights, and to the formulation of a common human rights approach to climate migration. Although there are distinguishing features, for example, between human rights of mobile and immobile people, there are also common aspects that should be emphasized. A common human rights approach could focus on safeguarding the respect for freedom, dignity and privacy of people in every decision- and policy-making situation related to climate change, including climate migration.