When people are displaced by climate change, what rights do they have?

First published: here | 8 October 2025

Climate change is a global emergency that touches every human on this planet. But its effects hit some people harder than others.  People in low- and middle-income countries, coastal areas, river valleys, low-lying areas and island states, are on the frontlines of the crisis. Among them, those who live in poverty, those who belong to racialized communities, women, older people, children, people living with illness or disability, Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized groups, are most affected. As sea levels rise and temperatures soar, people may leave their homes to seek a better future for themselves and their families.

People displaced by climate change may face similar struggles to those who flee due to conflict or persecution. Staying could put their human rights, their livelihoods and their lives in jeopardy.

Climate change is a threat multiplier that deepens inequalities and discrimination. It threatens the enjoyment of most of our rights and the future of humanity.  

What is climate displacement?

Climate displacement is the movement of people related to the impacts of climate change. It can be temporary or permanent, across borders or within the person’s origin country. Climate displacement may be linked to sudden or slow-onset disasters.

These climate impacts can happen in different ways:

  • Sudden disasters: Some people are displaced temporarily by events like cyclones, wildfires, floods or extreme storms. Often, they move within their own country and return when it’s safe. However, as these extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, repeated and prolonged movements are having long-term impacts on communities and their human rights.
  • Slow-onset disasters: Other climate-related disasters happen more gradually but are no less devastating. Effects like rising sea levels, saltwater contaminating fresh water sources, drought and desertification make entire areas unliveable over time. People leave their home permanently, often moving to cities or crossing borders to find a life with dignity in another country.

How many people are estimated to have been displaced by the climate emergency?

It’s hard to give an exact number of people displaced exclusively by climate change. This is because climate change often interacts with other factors like economic struggles, conflict, political instability and discrimination. When someone decides to leave their home, it’s rarely due to just one cause. 

To get a sense of the potential figure, we can look to data from the International Displacement Monitoring Centre, which suggest that 9.8 million people are displaced by disaster. This figure includes disasters that aren’t attributed to climate change and doesn’t include displacement that’s indirectly caused by climate change. However, it does provide us with a sense of the scale of the problem.

What we do know is that people are already moving in response to the climate crisis and other compounding factors, and that they often find inadequate legal protections.  

Government inaction on climate change infringes on an expansive list of human rights including:

Human rights law also specifies that displaced people have a right to not be returned to a place where their human rights would be at real risk. This is called the principle of non-refoulement and it also applies to people who move in the context of climate change.

Does that make them “climate refugees”?

At Amnesty International, we don’t use the term “climate refugees” or “environmental refugees”. This is because these terms don’t exist in international law. International law defines only the term “refugee”.

Under international law, a refugee is a person who has a “well-founded fear” of persecution in their country for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion – and therefore cannot be returned there. International law does not distinguish between different types of refugees, like “religious” or “political” or “climate-related”. Making such distinctions can become harmful and highly politicized.

People who move in the context of climate change may obtain refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention due to risks of persecution. For example, if resources like food, housing and clean water become scarce and an already marginalized group is specifically prevented from accessing them, members of that group could obtain refugee status if they decide to leave their country.

Whether or not they qualify for refugee status, everyone should be protected from being returned to a place where they would be at real risk of persecution or other serious human rights violations. And every person seeking international protection should have their case looked at individually and fairly.

What are the main causes of climate change?

The planet is warming more rapidly due to a series of human-made factors. These include:

  • Fossil fuel extraction, production and use, including coal, oil and so called ‘natural gas’ for energy,
  • Harmful agricultural practices,
  • Deforestation,
  • Changes in how land is used.

These activities release greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, causing the planet to warm. This leads to profound and unprecedented changes in our atmosphere, oceans and natural environment.

Climate change is made by humans, and it can be stopped by humans.

Scientists agree that a fossil fuel phase out is imperative. Advocates and brave activists all over the world are speaking out on the need for climate action. However, fossil fuel companies and many governments have spent decades misleading, deflecting and delaying. While some governments are taking action on climate change, others are doubling down on the fossil fuel economy, despite the high cost to human health, wellbeing and life.

Rising sea levels

There are two main causes of sea level rise. First, vast ice sheets and glaciers in places like Greenland and Antarctica melt, adding huge amounts of water to the oceans. Secondly, as the temperature of the ocean warms, it expands in volume. This can also lead to ocean acidification and salinization of soil, impacting agricultural productivity, food security, biodiversity and access to clean drinking water.

This has a devastating impact on coastal communities and low-lying island countries, as their land is slowly swallowed by the sea. Rising sea levels contribute to increased flooding and high tides that are already destroying homes and crops and other important infrastructure needed for people to survive. Salt water from the ocean can contaminate the soil and fresh water sources, making the land less fertile and water undrinkable.

Low-lying island nations, such as Tuvalu and Kiribati in the Pacific that are barely a few metres above sea level, are more at risk from the effects of rising sea levels. Scientists predict that low-lying island nations may be submerged by ocean waters in a not-too-distant future. In 2021, Tuvalu’s prime minister made a poignant call on the international community to address climate change, standing knee-deep in water.

In Honduras, where rising seas and severe storm surges devastate coastal communities, Amnesty International has documented how fishing and farming communities face repeated flooding that destroys homes and contaminates freshwater sources, causing families to abandon their ancestral lands.

Extreme weather events

Climate change leads to extreme weather events, including more frequent and more intense floods, heatwaves, wildfires, cyclones and storms which can lead to the temporary or permanent displacement of whole communities.

Droughts

Climate change also leads to slow-onset events, such as droughts.

For example, people living in southern Madagascar have experienced a prolonged drought for the past five years, resulting in a catastrophic famine. In 2021, we documented the struggle of people fighting to survive the effects of climate change.

Extreme heat days, heatwaves and floods

As temperatures rise globally, the hottest days become even hotter. Heatwaves last longer and occur more often. Sometimes, ‘heat domes’ are created by atmospheric pressure which trap high temperatures in one area for extended periods.

Extreme heat is a direct threat to human health and the right to life, causing heatstroke and exhaustion, leading to health complications and shortening life expectancy. It worsens existing health conditions, putting older people, young children and people with disabilities at even higher risk. People living in poverty and those with informal, often outdoor work, are also disproportionately impacted by increased extreme heat days. Equatorial countries are more at risk of increased extreme heat days due to already having consistently high temperatures year-round, but heatwaves are increasingly having an effect in other countries too.

In some places, like Pakistan, abnormal weather patterns are destroying lives. In 2022 and 2024, extreme, and prolonged heatwaves were followed by intense, heavy rainfall during the monsoon season. In August 2022, Pakistan received more than 700% of its average monthly rainfall. The Indus River burst its banks, flooding communities. Thirty-three million people were affected, and eight million internally displaced. Those who were displaced faced unsanitary living conditions, increased exposure to disease and haphazard provisions of food and water.

Indirect causes, such as debt, economic collapse and conflict

The effects of climate change destroy land that once served as food sources and economic hubs, making it more desolate and harsh. Resources like food and water become scarce, and people may lose their livelihoods due to changing environmental factors. In lower-income countries, people may lose jobs or be unable to work and have no social security. Debt of lower-income countries may also make it harder for people to respond to disasters and adapt to the climate crisis.

In Pakistan, devastating heatwaves make it dangerous for casual workers to work in the heat, which impacts their daily wages. This coupled with inadequate social protection means that many of these workers cannot afford to stay in their communities.

Competition over resources and worsening social, economic and environmental conditions can then contribute to the risk of conflict. Conflict and political instability also make it more difficult for communities to prepare and brace for the impacts of climate change.

How is climate change a threat multiplier?

While people often talk about the direct impacts of climate change, its dangers extend far beyond environmental damage. Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, intensifying existing inequalities and human rights struggles. People may be at increased risk both because of where they live and its vulnerability to the climate crisis, and/or because of their individual circumstances.  

Some people and communities do not have the resources or infrastructure to respond to the effects of climate change. Groups that face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination face even greater risks because of climate change, including:

  • Women and girls are less likely to own land and are more likely to experience poverty and unemployment. Women and girls also lack political representation and face discrimination and gender-based violence. These factors mean they are more likely to be negatively affected by the climate crisis.
  • People living in poverty, particularly people experiencing homelessness, are especially at risk to climate impacts.
  • People with disabilities and health conditions also face increased dangers. Institutional discrimination and social exclusion add to the challenges for these persons, as well as the fact that the climate crisis may increase the risk of further health complications.
  • Groups experiencing structural discrimination, including racialized people and minorities,who often live in neighbourhoods and communities that lack resilient infrastructure to protect them from climate change.
  • People living in low- and middle-income countries, which lack the resources to adequately respond to the effects of climate change.
  • Indigenous Peoples, who often live in ecosystems that are particularly sensitive to alterations in climate, whose cultures and identities are closely interconnected with their lands, and who in many cases are excluded from climate decision-making.

The human rights impacts of climate change are undeniable. And they are a result of human-made problems that need to be addressed.

States have a responsibility to cooperate to prevent further displacement and ensure that people can remain in their homes. In July 2025, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark opinion explaining that the full enjoyment of human rights cannot be ensured without protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment. This means states must mitigate climate change, including by rapidly phasing out fossil fuels and reducing emissions.

States must also assist people to adapt to a changing environment, including through financial and technical support for adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Richer countries, who are also often the most responsible for higher emissions, bear more responsibility.

People displaced in the context of climate change must have access to international protection and other forms of protection. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has clarified that to ensure protection for people displaced across borders, governments should establish appropriate “migration categories” such as humanitarian visas, temporary residence permits, and/or protection under refugee status or similar status, which can provide protection against refoulement. This includes protecting people from deportation to a place where their human rights would be at real risk due to climate change impacts.

Displaced communities should also be compensated for the loss and damages they suffered because of a human-made climate crisis.

What are states doing already to respond to climate displacement?

In short, not enough.

Only some countries offer dedicated protections against returns to other countries due to risks of climate change-related human rights harm.

Visas dedicated to allowing people to relocate from areas particularly impacted by climate change are extremely rare. In 2024, Australia offered a visa programme specifically for up to 280 people a year from Tuvalu in the context of climate change.

Existing migration policies force people to navigate discriminatory and restrictive procedures and pathways. People most affected include racialized and poor communities, women, and other marginalized groups. Older people, people with disabilities and people with medical conditions are often left behind, since they are unable to meet visa requirements. These policies separate families and entrench the societal exclusion of those who already face higher risks. 

States are falling short on their obligations under international law.

What can we do to hold states to those responsibilities?

We need to hold powerful decision makers to their legal responsibility to protect people displaced in the context of climate change. True justice must include offering visas to those most impacted by the climate crisis.

We are calling on all states to urgently establish clear legal frameworks at national, regional and international level for the protection of persons displaced across international borders in the context of climate change. This should complement existing climate justice initiatives, including support for adaptation and mitigation, just transition and loss and damage, so that people are able to continue living on their homelands with their rights respected.

At Amnesty International, we’re committed to continuing our research, campaigning and advocacy work to pressure states to act on their responsibilities. With the help of people like you, we are working to create a global movement of people who can help us make enough noise so it’s clear that refusal to offer safe and legal pathways for people displaced in the context of climate change will not go unnoticed.