International Protection for People Displaced across Borders in the context of Climate Change and Disasters: A Practical Toolkit

As the impacts of climate change and disasters affect the displacement of people worldwide, decision-makers and practitioners are increasingly being called upon to assess whether those displaced across international borders in this context are entitled to international protection. To assist with this task, this Practical Toolkit provides principled guidance on the interpretation and application of international and regional refugee and human rights law to international protection claims involving climate change and disasters. This Practical Toolkit does not seek to extend the scope of international protection under refugee or human rights law, but rather explains how climate change and disasters can contribute to establishing the factual basis for international protection under existing legal frameworks. The analysis in this Practical Toolkit applies to all international protection claims involving the impacts of climate change and disasters, irrespective of whether they are central to the claim or part of the broader context in which the claim arises.