Climate Change and Forced Migration : How Climate Refugees fit into EU Asylum Law

Abstract: Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humankind and its effects will hit the most vulnerable persons disproportionately hard. Several millions of people risk displacement due to environmental hazards, natural disasters and climate mediated conflicts, influencing migration patterns across the world. Without a strategy for protecting specifically climate refugees, States risk violating several human rights, which makes the issue highly relevant to the international community. Nevertheless, an intergovernmental strategy for addressing the challenges does not yet exist. This thesis focuses specifically on the European Union’s role in protecting climate refugees. It offers an analysis of the mechanical and attitudinal dimensions of refugee protection in the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and uses post-colonial theory as a tool for interpreting its implementation. This thesis is written with the purpose of contributing to the discourse on how climate refugees can and should fit in under current EU legislative mechanisms.