There's No Place Like Home: Human Displacement and Climate Change‪.‬

Abstract Forced migration of human populations due to the impacts of climate change poses an enormous challenge for the world community and international legal system to accommodate. At present there are no coordinated legal and administrative systems that will allow populations displaced by climate change impacts to migrate in a planned and orderly manner. However, in the absence of such systems, here is a risk that displacement will be accompanied by conflict and political instability. This article explores these emerging and uncharted issues in four parts. Part 1 of this article explains the impacts of climate change on small island developing States ('SIDS') and how these impacts may be drivers for migration both within and from island nations. Part 2 focuses on legal frameworks specifically established to address displaced persons, in particular the formal protection and rights afforded to refugees and migrants. Part 3 considers the international legal regime that has been established to deal with climate change, a regime that, to date, has not addressed issues relating to human displacement. Part 4 considers the special circumstances of people migrating in response to climate change, looking at legal initiatives being explored to respond to this looming issue.