Conexões entre clima e migração no âmbito da OEA: uma busca pelo conceito de refugiado climático aplicável ao continente americano

Abstract

This dissertation, submitted as a requirement for completion of the Master's degree in Human Rights of the Postgraduate Program of the Federal University of Pará, aims to address the issue of climate change and migration/human mobility. The research problem is to answer how the OAS has addressed climate change in its relationship with climate refugees, a category that the research intends to verify the construction within the scope of that international organization. In this context, the research proposed the documentary analysis of reports of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. It sought to highlight the main impacts caused by climate change in the American continent, these connected to the propensity to trigger mass (forced) migratory movements, with the classification of people as refugees. To this end, it seeks to address, in addition to climate conditions, the construction of the concept of climate refugee, the sphere of action of the OAS in the protection of refugees, as well as data on migratory flow and climate change. The hypothetical-deductive method used was the research involving documentary analysis and bibliographic research, justified by the attempt to present a response to the consultation made by the Republic of Colombia and the Republic of Chile to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, when questioning the relationship between climate emergencies and human rights, in a request for an Advisory Opinion submitted in January 2023. The research focused on the documentary analysis of official statements by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, seeking to identify how the OAS has addressed the issue with regard to guaranteeing the human rights of climate refugees. As a result of the research, three points were proposed as a basis for the concept of climate refugee, with the identification of the lack of a structured concept in the OAS documents analyzed. However, the recognition of climate migrants and the effects of climate change on human mobility were identified, as well as a concern with the vulnerabilities surrounding migrants, including migration due to climate causes, which harm the enjoyment of human rights, observing the impact of citizenship as a right that gives access to several others. At the end of the dissertation there is a proposal for a concept for climate refugee.