Climate-related mobilities is a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon. Depending on the context, climate change can either induce more movement – more likely within than across borders – or more immobility, with varying degrees of agency in the mobility outcome. Yet, despite this heterogeneity, in the current international policy landscape key institutions predominantly focus on cross-border movement. The global climate change regime under the 2015 Paris Agreement (PA) is somewhat more expansive, yet the focus of the UNFCCC’s institutional arrangements with regard to mobility remains narrow. First, it regards displacement as the central problem requiring address; second, it consigns climate mobilities to the Warsaw international mechanism for Loss & Damage. Consequently, the current setup is both normatively and practically limited in its capacity to address the whole range of mobility outcomes resulting from climate change.  

 

In this paper, we propose a novel normative framework for addressing climate mobilities, grounded in a right to a livable space. We argue that this framework addresses the heterogeneity of mobility outcomes and provides justificatory guidance for utilizing the PA  as a key governance framework. In doing so, we critically examine the normative scope of Loss & Damage (L&D) and highlight how centering the practical considerations posed by climate-related mobilities can help clarify distinct directions for L&D. Given the recent momentum captured by L&D at last year’s Conference of Parties, our framework provides a timely foundation on which to base an institutional set up of climate mobilities within the UNFCCC that goes beyond where it currently stands.