Earth observation as a tool to assess climate migration and policy-making: Legal aspects

¹ School of Law, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10672, Athens, Greece
² National Observatory of Athens, Thessio 11810, Athens, Greece
³ Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
⁴ CERIDES- Excellence in Innovation and Technology, European University of Cyprus, 1516, Nicosia-Cyprus
⁵ National Technical University of Athens, 15772, Zografou, Greece
⁶ Image Processing Laboratory (IPL), Universitat de València, 46980 Paterna (València), Spain

^* Corresponding author: akoskina@law.uoa.gr

Abstract

The impact of climate change on the biosphere and atmosphere is well documented but its impact on the anthroposphere needs to be better understood. Indeed, divergent views remain both at the regional level -as shown by (i) the EU case-by-case approach (ii) the African Kampala Convention (2009) and (iii) the Latin-American Lineamientos regionales (2018)- and finally the international one. As the Paris Agreement (2015) urges States to use best available scientific knowledge to counter the negative effects of climate change, we argue that Earth Observation (EO) could be potentially exploited by policy-makers as an efficient platform for modeling, forecasting, characterizing and understanding the severity of migration flows, contributing to evidence-based Anticipatory Action (A-A) for the effective management of climate migration, and setting the direction for future policies in this field that would be equitable on both regional and international scales. Hence, in implementing the Paris Agreement, States should increase the funding and use of EO and Causality as policy-supporting tools, to reduce the need for reactive and costly responses to displacement, and promote the safety, dignity, and well-being of people affected by climate change. However, based on said input, a well-adapted framework for the legal protection of climate migrants should be adopted.