Displacement in the ICJ's Advisory Opinion on Climate Change

Abstract

In its 2025 Advisory Opinion on climate change, the International Court of Justice acknowledged that displacement is among the ‘severe and far-reaching’ consequences of climate change and affirmed that the principle of non-refoulement applies in this context where life-threatening conditions prompt people to seek international protection elsewhere. This article explores how the court's findings embed existing legal authority, and, importantly, how the court's recognition of the interconnectedness between international human rights law, environmental law and climate change law may open up new lines of argument for future international protection claims.