abstract: As global warming increases, sea levels continue to rise and world populations continue to grow; the Earth is nearing its tipping point. Human action, such as deforestation, mining, and industrialization, has had a profound effect on environments destroying wetlands, and the natural infrastructure needed to absorb rainfall and maintain vegetation. Due to extreme changes in climate and temperature, people all over the world are increasingly affected by natural disaster. Unable to sustain their livelihoods, these individuals, become environmental refugees and are forced to flee their land and homes to obtain security in another region or country. Currently, there are approximately 25 million environmental refugees worldwide. Despite the soaring numbers, environmental refugees are not legally recognized or protected by the United Nations, and thus do not receive the same rights or assistance as a traditional refugee. This thesis analyzes definitions and interpretations of Environmental Refugees (ERs) through the frameworks of environmental justice and human rights law and identifies possible avenues of discourse available. Furthermore, this thesis examines the current United Nations definition of refugee and identifies the pros and cons to expanding the current definition to include those affected by natural disaster. Through the case study of New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA), it is demonstrated how ERs are not only an issue facing developing countries, but also exist within developed nations. Hurricane Katrina in NOLA is an ethnographic example that demonstrates how during a time of natural disaster, a variety of past and present structural factors may contribute to the violation of human rights. This thesis then concludes with a discussion of possible categorizations of ERs and the concrete benefits of each category, and how lessons from NOLA can and should be applied to other ER situations in order to avoid human rights violations. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2010

Many people worldwide are forced to leave their homes because of serious degradation of environmental conditions, natural disasters and depletion of natural resources. Growing impacts of climate change and global warming on the environment and human mobility are becoming increasingly worrying, creating a need for protection of those environmentally displaced persons. Although there has been a great attention paid to this phenomenon, the category of so-called "environmental refugees" still continues unrecognized by the international community. The paper examines the circumstances under which environmental migration occurs, its causes and consequences. It deals with state obligations rising from the international environmental law, especially those related to climate change. It deals with the terminology related to the environmentally displaced persons, such as environmental migrants, environmental refugees or environmentally displaced persons. It presents their classification and defines the key terms. The paper also mentions cases of environmental migration in the world and their possible solution, highlighting the need for prevention and adaptation. Most of the paper is dedicated to the analysis of the legal status and rights of environmentally displaced persons. The paper analyses the...

Context: This thesis analyzes media coverage in Canada of environmentally displaced people (EDP) due to their recent prominence in political discussions on a national and international level as well as in the literature. Objectives: This thesis has three goals, notably (1) to raise awareness of EDP as a social phenomenon; (2) to understand how EDP are currently constructed in the public sphere; and (3) to analyze whether Canadian media characterizes EDP within discourses of victimization and/or devictimization. Ultimately, this thesis investigates: How does Canadian print media represent environmentally displaced people? Methodology: A total of 149 (132 English and 17 French) Canadian news articles, appearing from 2000 to 2017, were selected for analysis through a search strategy that included specific key words. The articles selected appeared in the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun, Le Journal de Québec, La Presse, and Canada Newswire. Results: The results were analyzed by using a frame analysis. Based on this analysis, a few key points were commonly used to represent EDP, including the uncertainty over which terms to use, their quantification, as well as a scare tactic to entice action towards climate change. Overall, the media tended to portray EDP using themes of devictimization. Conclusion: Future research should be conducted to continue to analyze media representations of those displaced. It is also imperative to collect more data on EDP in order to resolve the debate around their definition and officially recognize one term to help facilitate research and increase the legitimacy of those displaced - whether they are recognized as migrants or refugees.

Refugiados ambientais são refugiados não convencionais e são migrantes forçados, interna ou internacionalmente, temporária ou permanentemente, em situação de vulnerabilidade e que se veem obrigados a deixar sua morada habitual por motivos ambientais de início lento ou de início rápido, causados por motivos naturais, antropogênicos ou pela combinação de ambos. Embora não existam reconhecimento e proteção específica para esses migrantes no direito internacional em escala global, alguns instrumentos jurídicos regionais e leis nacionais assim o fazem. Argumenta-se, nesta tese de doutorado, que os refugiados ambientais possuem modos de proteção geral em certas áreas do direito internacional e que as possibilidades atuais e futuras de proteção específica podem ser encontradas nas fontes primárias do direito internacional, indicadas no artigo 38(1) do Estatuto da Corte Internacional de Justiça. Foram identificadas sete vias de proteção dos refugiados ambientais no direito internacional e no direito interno estatal: (i) a via da ação humanitária, (ii) a via da proteção complementar, (iii) a via da legislação nacional, (iv) a via da justiça climática, (v) a via da responsabilidade compartilhada, (vi) a via da judicialização do refúgio ambiental e (vii) a via do tratado internacional. Sugere-se, ainda, o estabelecimento de uma governança migratória-ambiental global baseada nos regimes internacionais e na ação dos atores nos níveis local, nacional, regional e internacional para a execução das formas de proteção e para o atendimento das necessidades dos refugiados ambientais no mundo. / \"Environmental refugees\" are non-conventional refugees and forced migrants, internally or internationally, temporarily or permanently, in a situation of vulnerability, and that are forced to leave their homes for environmental reasons, of slow or rapid onset, caused by natural or anthropogenic reasons, or a combination of both. Although there is no specific recognition and protection to these migrants under international law on a global scale, some regional legal instruments and national laws recognize and protect them. The main argument of this doctoral thesis is that \"environmental refugees\" are under general protection in certain areas of international law and that the current and future possibilities for specific protection can be found in the primary sources of international law, referred to in Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. Seven protective pathways for \"environmental refugees\" were identified in international law and in domestic law: by means of (i) humanitarian action, (ii) complementary protection, (iii) national law, (iv) climate justice, (v) shared responsibility, (vi) judicialization of environmental asylum, and (vii) the international treaty. It is also suggested that a comprehensive global environmental migration governance be established, based on international regimes and by action of actors at local, national, regional and international levels, for the implementation of the forms of protection and to meet the needs of \"environmental refugees\" worldwide.

Refugiados ambientais são refugiados não convencionais e são migrantes forçados, interna ou internacionalmente, temporária ou permanentemente, em situação de vulnerabilidade e que se veem obrigados a deixar sua morada habitual por motivos ambientais de início lento ou de início rápido, causados por motivos naturais, antropogênicos ou pela combinação de ambos. Embora não existam reconhecimento e proteção específica para esses migrantes no direito internacional em escala global, alguns instrumentos jurídicos regionais e leis nacionais assim o fazem. Argumenta-se, nesta tese de doutorado, que os refugiados ambientais possuem modos de proteção geral em certas áreas do direito internacional e que as possibilidades atuais e futuras de proteção específica podem ser encontradas nas fontes primárias do direito internacional, indicadas no artigo 38(1) do Estatuto da Corte Internacional de Justiça. Foram identificadas sete vias de proteção dos refugiados ambientais no direito internacional e no direito interno estatal: (i) a via da ação humanitária, (ii) a via da proteção complementar, (iii) a via da legislação nacional, (iv) a via da justiça climática, (v) a via da responsabilidade compartilhada, (vi) a via da judicialização do refúgio ambiental e (vii) a via do tratado internacional. Sugere-se, ainda, o estabelecimento de uma governança migratória-ambiental global baseada nos regimes internacionais e na ação dos atores nos níveis local, nacional, regional e internacional para a execução das formas de proteção e para o atendimento das necessidades dos refugiados ambientais no mundo. / \"Environmental refugees\" are non-conventional refugees and forced migrants, internally or internationally, temporarily or permanently, in a situation of vulnerability, and that are forced to leave their homes for environmental reasons, of slow or rapid onset, caused by natural or anthropogenic reasons, or a combination of both. Although there is no specific recognition and protection to these migrants under international law on a global scale, some regional legal instruments and national laws recognize and protect them. The main argument of this doctoral thesis is that \"environmental refugees\" are under general protection in certain areas of international law and that the current and future possibilities for specific protection can be found in the primary sources of international law, referred to in Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. Seven protective pathways for \"environmental refugees\" were identified in international law and in domestic law: by means of (i) humanitarian action, (ii) complementary protection, (iii) national law, (iv) climate justice, (v) shared responsibility, (vi) judicialization of environmental asylum, and (vii) the international treaty. It is also suggested that a comprehensive global environmental migration governance be established, based on international regimes and by action of actors at local, national, regional and international levels, for the implementation of the forms of protection and to meet the needs of \"environmental refugees\" worldwide.