Climate-displaced people arrriving in Spain

Résumé

Climate change negative effects, especially in places with ecological or institutional fragility, may impact on people’s way of life in such manner to force them to move elsewhere. In such cases relocation would be an adaptation measure in itself (Kronlid 2014, Corti and Jarillo 2022). When these forced displacements include border crossing, involved people may suffer lack of protection if they are not offered an adequate framework at their destination, either through the law on foreigners or through International Refugee Law and/or subsidiary protection. Since there is not a specific recognition of a “climate displaced person” in such legal framework, it is necessary to develop new interpretations of current regulations to face the new circumstances. In this sense, if we can provide climate displaced people adequate protection with the current legal framework, this intellectual work itself could be considered a (derivative) adaptation to climate change and, therefore, an ecological transition measure (Borràs and Villavicencio, 2021). One of the main shortcomings of the state of the art, and an essential precondition for developing the legal re-interpretation process, is the lack of conceptual clarity of the profile of these climate displaced people, what are their necessities and vulnerabilities. This communication is part of the project ADAptation and climate displacements: Actions for their protection (ADAPTAR) (TED2021- 130570B-I00). This paper aims to explore the concept of climate displacement through the (self-)perception of migrants who can be considered as such, as well as members of associations/NGOs for the protection of migrants, and staff of the asylum and refugee office who process applications for protection. We will also analyze the profile of climate displaced people arriving in Spain who could be potential applicants for asylum, subsidiary protection and temporary residence for climatic reasons. The project is based on a qualitative methodology through 15 semi-structured in-depth interviews with the different actors mentioned above.