FROM DISPLACEMENT TO DIGNITY: CLIMATE-INDUCED MIGRATION AND ARTICLE 21
AUTHOR – SANA SANJEEV, STUDENT AT HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, RAIPUR
BEST CITATION – SANA SANJEEV, FROM DISPLACEMENT TO DIGNITY: CLIMATE-INDUCED MIGRATION AND ARTICLE 21, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (1) OF 2026, PG. 636-640, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
INTRODUCTION: CLIMATE DISPLACEMENT AND THE CRISIS OF LEGAL RECOGNITION
Migration, as per the international organization for migration (IOM), is the relocation of individuals away from their primary residence, either internally or across borders, for temporary or permanent periods. Extending this, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognizes ‘migrant’ as anyone residing outside their place of origin prolonging beyond three months period. Such migrations may be voluntary, guided by desire for education, work, or better livelihoods or involuntary, commonly forced by environmental disasters or escalating socio-economic conditions. In vulnerable regions of the developing world, climate change has become a major determinant behind growing patterns of internal and cross border displacement.1 Weather related disasters independently triggered 250 million internal displacements all over the world over the past 10 years, which is equal to over 67,000 displacements each day.2 Migration caused by climate effects can be classified by the speed of onset. Sudden-onset displacement manifests from calamities such as hurricanes, floods, or cyclones, which are strongly associated to climate change, these are primarily involuntary and shaped by intense hardships. The 2018 Kerala floods, cyclone Amphan in 2020, and the 2024 Wayanad landslides which displaced hundreds of people,3 are illustrative examples. Slow-onset displacement, in distinction, occurs slowly due to variables like drought, soil erosion, or rising sea levels that threaten survival. The Sundarbans delta in West Bengal illustrates this, where coastal land erosion and salinisation have pushed people to move in search of secure livelihoods.4