Through adopting a legal approach to solving climate-induced migration, Earth Refuge goes beyond awareness and advocacy by providing resources to empower those affected.
Our aims are to analyse the state of the law in the climate migration field, in particular through the comparison of alternatives, to monitor regional operations of legislative, judicial and executive branches, to comment on draft legislation and strategic documents, to play a role in the consultation of legislation and to participate in advisory boards, committees or other structures in government.
Ultimately, our goals are to amplify the voices of those who are directly affected, as opposed to trying to speak for them; get climate displacement into normal discourse and conversations – we have found that although the climate crisis and refugee crisis are spoken about respectively (and even then, not enough), not many people are aware or sufficiently informed of climate migration specifically; and provide legal recourse for those affected – currently, there are no regional or international frameworks catering to the protection of climate migrants. There is a literal gap in the law. We want to tackle this, and provide direct legal recourse and guidance to those affected. We want to put the legal solutions in their hands, and make the conversation practical, not just academic.
How?
At Earth Refuge, we aim to dispel the myth of lawyers as the gatekeepers of justice.
Picture a spectrum, and find us splat in the centre.
On one end of it, you’ll find our colleagues from the legal sphere having active conversations with the likes of environmentalists and other experts, bringing this gargantuan issue into normal discourse in our Archive.
On the other end are the testimonies of the individuals and communities directly affected by or at the front lines of climate-induced displacement, in Faces.
They need regional and international protection, or solutions to their inescapable reality – which you will find in Legal Toolkits.
