Climate Migration: A Vision from Social Vulnerability and Human Rights Transgression

Abstract

This essay analyzes the relationship between climate change, migration, and human rights based on the premise that disasters are socially constructed events. Likewise, we explored the incidence of vulnerability and exposure to disasters in climate migration processes. Through a narrative analysis of the hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on “Human rights of people in human mobility due to the effects of climate change” held on February 29, 2024, it is maintained that Climate migration is both a consequence of the direct impacts of climate change and pre-existing conditions of vulnerability. These narratives reveal that, due to the lack of an adequate government response to climate change, the livelihoods necessary to enjoy fundamental human rights, such as a healthy environment, water, food, health, and life, were lost. We conclude that cases of human displacement due to climate change represent situations of violation of the human rights of the affected populations. This statement is crucial because it allows us to concretely address the challenges of climate migration, proposing actions for guaranteeing and protecting human rights.