Human displacement due to environmental disasters and the International Institute of Refugees: the case of the Carteret Islands and the need for recognition of climate refugees

Abstract

This article examines the institution of Public International Law of refuge; however, from the perspective of Environmental Law, specifically through Disaster Law theory, analyzing cases of human displacement caused by environmental disasters. The work delves into the complexities of the refugee institution in international law, then relating it to environmental law and predicting the need to broaden the concept of refuge. The article was conducted based on the deductive method, starting from a general location and arriving at a specific case, which is the residents of the Carteret Islands, considered climate refugees. The result achieved is due to the urgent need to expand the concept of refugee to include the figure of the climate refugee or environmental refugee, primarily at the international level and, consequently, in the internal rights of different States.