CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENTAL DISPLACEMENT AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

摘要

This paper addresses the rights of environmentally displaced persons. The motivation is the compelling humanitarian imperative to ensure that those displaced have a minimum of rights, and the focus is on interpretations of existing law that the author considers in line with de Sousa Santos' subaltern cosmopolitanism. The paper draws on both scholarly debates and policy and practitioner discourses. To protect and strengthen the rights of environmentally displaced persons, we should fully exploit existing law by applying a dynamic and context-oriented interpretation of internally displaced person law, refugee law and human rights law. It would be useful to develop a soft law instrument that could provide authoritative guidance in this respect, drawing on the possibilities as well as remedying the limitations of existing law.