Right to clean air, reason for environmental migration?

July 2024 was the warmest July on record globally, according to NOAA’s 175-year record. The global surface temperature was 1.21°C above the 20th-century average of 15.8°C, making it 0.03°C warmer than the previous record set in July of last year. The global land-only July temperature was the warmest on record, at 1.70°C above average, while the ocean-only temperature was the second warmest, at 0.98°C above average. Record-warm July temperatures were observed across large parts of northern and southern Africa, southeastern Europe, and significant portions of Asia, as well as areas of the western U.S. and western Canada. According to UN reports, climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, with human activities—primarily the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas—being the main driver since the 1800s. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently stated in its most recent report on climate adaptation that “disasters fueled by the climate crisis are already worse than scientists originally predicted”. Natural disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclonic storms, earthquakes, and tsunamis are key push factors for environmental migration, which is expected to become one of the most significant causes of forced migration in the 21st century. In this context, the question arises: can pollution be considered too a push factor for environmental migration, and would people migrating for these reasons be classified as migrants or refugees? To answer these questions, it is essential to define the terms “refugees”, “migrants” or more specifically, “environmental migrants”.
The 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as a person who, “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country”. Or in other words refugees are people who have fled their countries to escape conflict, violence, persecution and have sought safety in another country. They flee conflict zones where they may lose their lives or feel their lives are in danger.
At the international level, there is no universally accepted definition of the term "migrant." According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a migrant is a person who moves away from their place of usual residence, either within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, for a variety of reasons. This term includes various legal categories of people, such as migrant workers and smuggled migrants, as well as those whose status is not specifically defined under international law, like international students. Additionally, it includes individuals who, due to sudden or progressive changes in the environment that adversely affect their lives or living conditions, are compelled to leave their homes, whether temporarily or permanently, and move either within their own country or across international borders.
In July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly passed a historic resolution declaring that everyone on the planet has the right to a healthy environment, including clean air, water, and a stable climate. Although this resolution is not legally binding on the 193 UN member states, advocates are hopeful it will prompt countries to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in national constitutions and regional treaties, encouraging states to implement such laws. Considering that pollution is a silent killer, the research question in this paper is do people who migrate out of fear for their lives due to pollution have the right to be treated as refugees or as regular environmental migrant, and whether they would have the same rights?
Key words: right to clean air, environmental migration, human rights, migrants, refugees