Analysing national responses to environmental and climate-related displacement. A comparative assessment of Italian and French legal frameworks

Interlinkages between climate change, environmental degradation and displacement have been widely recognized by academics and States. However, unlike other categories of forced migrants, environmental and climate-displaced people crossing an international border are not entitled to any ad hoc protection regime under current conventional law. Nevertheless, it has been argued that International Human Rights Law and, to a minor extent, International Refugee Law forbid the expulsion of those migrantswho are unable to return to their country in dignity and safety due to environmental reasons. While the role of International Law in dealing with environmental and climate-related displacement has been widely investigated by legal researchers, national immigration and asylum systems could be further examined.This paper aims at examining the existing legal options for the protection of environmental and climate-related displaced persons under the Italian and French legal frameworks. The Italian legal framework has been selected since it is characterized by two distinct kinds of complementary protection, both potentially addressing displacement induced by environmental hazards: the ‘special protection’ –which substituted the ‘humanitarian protection’ –andthe ‘residence permit for calamity’.While no explicit reference is made to climate and environmental reasons in the French legal framework concerning the residence of third-country nationals, a recent judgement issued by the Bordeaux Appeal Court could pave the way for a gradual inclusion of such phenomena under the umbrella of the possible reasons justifying the issuance of a residence permit to those at risk of displacement for environmental and climate-related reasons. Such a comparative analysis hasthe objective of giving more practical thickness to the legal issues arising from environmental and climate-related displacement with the aim of identifying legal solutions to the new challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation.