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Comments: João Arriscado Nunes (CES). With the author Viviane Passos Gomes

Abstract 

Normative gaps in the protection of migrants from disasters and environmental disasters hold a strong resistance from the international community regarding the creation of a specific category of "environmental refugees". These gaps contrast with the current international context, where there is a growing demand for the recognition of the specific rights of this group of people. This article aims to demonstrate the general outlook and perspectives of international legal protection for so-called "environmental refugees", as well as policy developments that, while timid, do not exempt the need for specific normative protection. The methodology used was based on the documents and reports of international organizations and specialized websites, through a qualitative analysis associated with the collection of documentary data and references. Although the concept of "environmental refugees" is not recognized by the United Nations, some progress can already be seen both within the framework of Intergovernmental Organizations and within the framework of Civil Society. On the other hand, the need for effective international action, whether through adaptive and temporary measures such as the use of existing human rights instruments, whether specific and consolidated through the creation of a specific statute for this new category of refugees, is urgent and inevitable.

Keywords: environmental refugees; international legal protection; normative progress perspective.

Bio note of the author

Viviane Passos Gomes, specialist in Environmental Law and International Law, PhD in Public Law from the University of Seville, with a thesis on the integrated and participatory management of water in Brazil and Spain (2015); Post-doctorate in Environmental Law from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (2017). Author of La gestión Participativa de las Águas en Brasil y España: Un análisis de derecho comparado (Madrid: Ministério de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (2017). Worked at the OECD (Paris) to prepare and prepare a report on "water governance in Brazil".