Briefing Paper

Climate Change, Internal Displacement and the Kampala Convention

The rhetoric that climate change is happening has without doubt emerged in global governance. At the AU level, the result has been a continental strategy that reinforces the need to address the impacts of climate change, including displacement of persons. During the AU Roundtable on Addressing Root Causes of Forced Displacement and Achieving Durable Solutions in Africa in February 2019, the nexus between climate change and displacement was also emphasised. While significant attention has been paid to cross-border displacement, this policy briefing examines the internal displacement dimension. It looks at how the victims of climate-induced internal displacement can be protected, leveraging the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (Kampala Convention). The aim of this policy briefing is to examine the dimensions of climate-induced internal displacement and the protection of such internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Kampala Convention.