Concerns have arisen in recent decades about the impact of climate change on human mobility. Many people affected by climate change are forced or otherwise decide to migrate within or across international borders. Despite its clear importance, many questions remain open regarding the nature of the climate-migration nexus and its implications for laws and institutions. In the face of such uncertainty, this Research Handbook offers a comprehensive picture of laws and institutions relevant to climate migration and the multiple, often contradictory perspectives on the topic. Carefully edited chapters by leading scholars in the field provide a cross section of the various debates on what laws do, can do and should do in relation to the impacts of climate change on migration. A first part analyses the relations between climate change and migration. A second part explores how existing laws and institutions address the climate-migration nexus. In the final part, the chapters discuss possible ways forward. This timely Research Handbook provides much-needed insight into this complex issue for graduate and post-graduate students in climate change or migration law. It will also appeal to students and scholars in political science, international relations, environmental studies and migration studies, as well as policymakers and advocates. Contributors include: G. Appave, F. Biermann, I. Boas, M. Burkett, M. Byrne, C. Cournil, F. Crepeau, F. De Salles Cavedon-Capdeville, C. Farbotko, E. Ferris, F. Gemenne, K. Hansen, J. Hathaway, C. Hong, D. Ionesco, A.O. Jegede, S. Jodoin, S. Kagan, M. Leighton, S. Martin, B. Mayer, S. Mcinerney-Lankford, R. Mcleman, I. Millar, D. Mokhnacheva, C.T.M. Nicholson, E. Pires Ramos, A. Randall, A. Sironi, M. Traore Chazalnoel, C. Vlassopoulos, K. Wilson, K.M. Wyman

This book investigates the epistemological and ethical challenges faced by studies exploring the relations between climate change and human migration. At the heart of the contemporary preoccupation with climate change is a concern for its societal impacts. Among these, its presumed effect on human migration is perhaps the most politically resonant, regardless of whether that politics is oriented towards human or national security. There is, however, a problem: research on the causal link between climate change and migration has shown it to be a highly equivocal one. By extension, it remains unclear what - if any - response is required from law and policy. Carefully structured to guide the reader through the issue of 'climate migration' in a logical and rigorous manner, this book is the first to bring together key critiques, caveats, and cautions in order to systematically examine the challenges facing law, policy, and research on the topic. At a time in which both the effects of climate change and the causes of migration are of great public and political interest, and in which these interests are often fraught with sentiment and freighted with politics, the book brings dispassionately critical perspectives to bear on a topic that desperately needs it.

'In this important book, Benoit Mayer forces us to confront the implications of labelling in the climate migration context, and skillfully leverages this debate to shine a light on broader questions of the evolving role of global governance. His forthright analysis is both refreshing and appropriately challenging.' - James C. Hathaway, University of Michigan Law School 'The discussion on the legal aspects of climate migration is often limited to the issue of the legal status. Yet the debate extends way further, and Mayer offers a much-needed broader look at the different dimensions of this concept, their legal implications and political caveats.' - Francois Gemenne, University of Liege, Belgium, and Sciences Po, France Political narratives on climate or environmental migration have been deployed in support of policy arguments relating to humanitarian assistance, migration, and climate change, or to promote national security or economic interests. But while climate change certainly has various impacts on human mobility, it does not appear to create distinct ''climate migrants'' or (in general) unprecedented migration scenarios. In this timely book, Benoit Mayer offers a unique interdisciplinary inquiry into the prospects of different political narratives on climate migration. The Concept of Climate Migration identifies the essential narratives around climate migration - the humanitarian narrative, the migration narrative and the climate change narrative - and assesses their prospects. It argues that although such arguments will influence global governance, they will not necessarily achieve what advocates hope for. Throughout the discussion, it appears that the weaknesses of the concept of "climate migration" are likely to be utilized in favour of repressive policies against migration or for the defence of industrial nations against perceived threats from the Third World. This discerning book explores new paradoxes in political advocacy and relates them to some of the greatest challenges to contemporary global governance. It will be of great interest to researchers and postgraduate students interested in climate migration, climate change and the law, or anyone involved in advocacy around these important issues.

What role could or should the law play in dealing with the climate emergency? In this innovative volume, leading scholars explore fundamental debates at the frontier of climate change law scholarship. They address the key areas of scholarly disagreement about what climate change law is, the legal rules it consists of, and how these rules could be implemented in the real world. The first eleven topics are debated by teams of scholars expressing diametrically opposite points of view on each topic, in traditional debating style; the last seven chapters are presented as an individual author's own reflection on a topic that cannot readily be reduced to a binary debate. Each chapter is written in an accessible and thought-provoking way, emphasizing clear lines of argumentation. The debating-style format is designed to stimulate students to think critically and logically about the law and to fire up debate in and out of class.

Global climate change is a topic of continuously growing interest. As more international treaties come into force, media coverage has increased and many universities are now starting to conduct courses specifically on climate change laws and policies. This textbook provides a survey of the international law on climate change, explaining how significant international agreements have sought to promote compliance with general norms of international law. Benoit Mayer provides an account of the rules agreed upon through lengthy negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and multiple other forums on mitigation, geoengineering, adaptation, loss and damage, and international support. The International Law on Climate Change is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students studying climate, environmental or international law. It is supported by a suite of online resources, available at www.internationalclimatelaw.com, featuring regularly updated lists of complementary materials, weblinks and regular updates for each chapter.

Global climate change is a topic of continuously growing interest. As more international treaties come into force, media coverage has increased and many universities are now starting to conduct courses specifically on climate change laws and policies. This textbook provides a survey of the international law on climate change, explaining how significant international agreements have sought to promote compliance with general norms of international law. Benoit Mayer provides an account of the rules agreed upon through lengthy negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and multiple other forums on mitigation, geoengineering, adaptation, loss and damage, and international support. The International Law on Climate Change is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students studying climate, environmental or international law. It is supported by a suite of online resources, available at www.internationalclimatelaw.com, featuring regularly updated lists of complementary materials, weblinks and regular updates for each chapter.

Recent years have witnessed exciting developments in international negotiations, litigation, and scholarship about climate change, but doctrinal research in the field remains in its infancy. In particular, little is known about how fast states are required to limit and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The first part of the book identifies the relevant obligations through an analysis of treaties, custom, and other sources of international law. Beyond express quantified commitments contained for instance in nationally determined contributions, the book sheds light on the existence of general obligations of due diligence. While these general obligations are difficult to interpret, they are often more demanding. The second part explores how these general obligations can be applied objectively, for instance by a court, in concrete cases. Instead of an improbable judicial assessment of a state's requisite level of mitigation action, the book shows the possibility of assessing a state's conduct based on the measures that general mitigation obligations entail. These measures relate to corollary duties of cooperation, vigilance, and consistency. This book presents a first comprehensive doctrinal study of states' obligations on climate change mitigation. It shows that such obligations arise not only from climate treaties, but also from customary international law, unilateral declarations, and, possibly, human rights treaties. It also explores the interactions between these multiple obligations.