In partnership with Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness OCTOBER 2021 Statelessness and Climate Change Millions of stateless people are denied a nationality and face considerable vulnerabilities in the context of climate change, including exclusion from disaster relief, healthcare and adaptation solutions. Climate change is a risk multiplier for displacement. The risks of statelessness can increase when people move, including during displacement situations in the context of climate change and disasters. Specific efforts are needed to reduce statelessness risks for displaced people and to include stateless persons in climate action to strengthen their protection and resilience. STATELESSNESS RISKS DURING DISPLACEMENT IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON STATELESS PEOPLE In 2020, hazardous weather events led to more than 30 million displacements, with most displaced persons remaining within their home countries. People who are already stateless face specific and heightened risks because of pre-existing vulnerabilities and potential exclusion from protective measures. While such displacement can be either internal or cross border, in both scenarios a risk of statelessness may arise for a number of reasons. Stateless people may be excluded from critical support services, including disaster relief and emergency healthcare, that are only available to those who are citizens or who have a recognized legal status. Statelessness may result in situations where individuals are unable to prove their nationality due to loss of documentation, or the inability to obtain replacement documentation due to challenges accessing consular services. Protracted or permanent displacement outside of one’s country can sometimes result in passive loss of citizenship. The children of people living in displacement may be at risk of statelessness either because of issues of proof of entitlement to nationality (e.g., challenges accessing birth registration and nationality documentation) or issues relating to entitlement to nationality (where nationality laws are not consistent with the standards that prevent and reduce statelessness), or both. Many stateless people work in the informal economy and may face loss of livelihoods resulting from weather-related catastrophes. In such cases, a stateless person may be excluded from access to social services. Stateless people are also typically excluded from State surveys and censuses and thus may be left out of climate change adaptation plans, national development plans, national energy strategies and disaster risk reduction plans and policies. Individually or all together, these risks leave stateless people more exposed to climate risks, while having little access to support or protection. SEA-LEVEL RISE To date, the literature on climate change and statelessness has largely focused on potential statelessness arising as a result of sea-level rise and the possible ‘disappearance’ of small-island States. Most experts, however, have concluded that the “sinking island” scenario will not inevitably leave island inhabitants stateless. Small-island States have also taken adaptive measures and adopted legal solutions in a preventative manner that have been shown to mitigate both displacement and statelessness risks. Therefore, the greatest risks of statelessness due to climate change relate not to disappearance of States as such, but rather to the significant numbers of people being displaced in the context of climate change and disasters all over the world. Chapter 5 in Jane McAdam Climate Change, Forced Migration and International Law, OUP 2012; Chapter 6 in Lilian Yamamoto and Miguel Esteban Atoll Island States and International Law: Climate Change Displacement and Sovereignty, Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London 2014; and Walter Kälin, Conceptualising Climate-Induced Displacement in Jane McAdam (ed), Climate Change and Displacement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Hart Publishing 2010