Climate and weather extremes are increasingly driving displacement in all regions, as the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2022) points out. The European Union and its Member States are already supporting measures to address cross-border displacement in countries most affected. Yet, there are few signs of enhancing action to address disaster- and climate-related displacement into Europe.
To get a better understanding of such displacement the research project Judicial and policy responses to climate change-related mobility in the European Union with a focus on Austria and Sweden (ClimMobil) analysed court decisions in asylum proceedings in Austria and Sweden. The project was funded by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund and carried out by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (Vienna/Austria) in cooperation with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Lund/Sweden).
The researchers found that disasters and environmental factors already play a role when people move into Europe. European countries, however, do not have a harmonised approach to determining claims for international protection in the context of disasters and climate change. What are potential ways forward in order to enhance an understanding of cross-border disaster- and climate-related displacement into Europe? Which steps need to be taken towards more coherent legal and policy responses?
When
Thursday, 21 April 2022
18.00-19.30 CEST
Where
With whom
We will host a panel discussion consisting of:
Discussants
- Bruce Burson – New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal
- Monica Silvana Gonzales, Member of the European Parliament
- Walter Kälin, Platform on Disaster Displacement
- Barbara Simma, Judge of the Austrian Federal Administrative Court
Moderator
- Albert Kraler, Danube University Krems
Researchers
- Margit Ammer, Senior Researcher, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights
- Monika Mayrhofer, Senior Researcher, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights
- Matthew Scott, Head of Thematic Area Human Rights and the Environment, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
As an introduction to the event the research team will present the key findings and recommendations of the ClimMobil project. Following the panel discussion, the experts will take questions and comments from the audience. The event will be held in English.
Agenda
Welcome and Presentation of the Project Findings — 18:00
Panel Discussion and Q&A — 18:30-19:30
We look forward to seeing you at this high-level event!
Download the report here.