Climate crises remain the top most agenda of world nations as conference of parties 26 are warming up for Glasgow convention slated for November, 2021 to deliberate matters threatening the environmental and ecological existence of humans in this carbonised world notwithstanding that fossil fuels dominate the world’s energy market as the annual production is worth over 1.5 trillion dollars [1]. Both strong and weak nations are not left out to save their environment from the threat of climate crises such as oil spill, pollution, global warming, gas flaring etc. posed as a result of use of high tech cum carbonisation of oil and gas industry [2]. The need to review most of the nationally determined contributions in line with Paris Accord of 2015 by COP 25 is underway but till then, national citizens of these world nations have deployed means of averting the climate crises facing them regardless of their government initiatives on climate crises [3] and one of the individual’s action deployed is through seeking refuge out of their own adversely  affected nations by climate change to scarcely affected nations as most people believe that tackling climate change requires both policy and individual action. No doubt then that the global effect of climate change to the world at large became a call for concerns among strong and weak nations. International and regional organizations have often times came together and are still conglomerating to ensure that their environment are safer and healthy for their citizens but the more they paid much attention to climate change, the more the problems generated from it lingered. As a result, many people across globe have resulted to seeking refuge out of their countries to a safer and healthy environment other than allowing their unhealthy and unsafe environment to adversely choke them. 

Furthermore, it is the writers’ views that climate crises form one if not bulk of the factors giving rise to climate migration of citizens from one country to another and if that is the case, there is need for the refugee laws of various host nations against the asylum seekers to be very tolerant and not rigid but must conform with international standard best practices so that lives will not become unbearable for citizens of both privileged and less privileged nations in this environmentally changing world apart from punishment of ecocide proposed by legal expert before the international criminal court which is intended to prosecute offences against the environment [4]. 

It is therefore on this premise, we shall consider the introduction and definitional concepts of climate change and refugees law, literature review of climate change and refugee laws, legal regime of climate change and refugee protection, stratagem of Nigeria and Mexico Laws on Climate change and refugee protection in line with International best standard practices, challenges of laws on climate change and refugee protection, their comparative analysis, recommendations and conclusion.

Definitional Concepts

This research work will not be complete without the definition of some keywords in order to enable the writers convey their ideas effectively as defined. 

Climate Change

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), climate change is a change that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods [5].

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also define climate change as a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. It refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. 

Refugee

Article 1A (2) of the 1951 International Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol on the status of Refugees defines 

“Refugees as a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” [6].

The Organization of African Unity’s 1969 Convention on Refugee Problems in Africa also defines Refugee to include a broader category of forced migrants, which includes every person who, owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in either part of the whole of his country of origin or nationality is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin or nationality. 

Climate Refugee

The term ‘climate refugee’ is most uncertain in law and practice but as posited by Prof. Walter Kalin and Nina Schrepfer [7] that climate refugees are segmented into four categories of persons who suffered (a) reduction of available water; (b) decreases in crop yield; (c) risk of floods, storms and coastal flooding; (d) negative overall impacts on health (especially for the poor, elderly, young and marginalised).

Internally Displaced Persons

The United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement defines internally displaced persons as persons or group of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflicts, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters and who have not crossed an internationally recognised state border [8]. 

Asylees

An Asylum seeker is regarded as a person within a state party who has applied for recognition as a refugee. If the asylum seeker or asylee is determined to meet the definition of a refugee, he is granted asylum [9]. 

Literature Review on Climate Change and Refugee Protection

Climate Change

Climate, being a global public good poses unique challenge in its protection and maintenance. Efforts to mitigate climate change depends on collective actions of the countries of the world and cannot be done in a unilateral basis. The literature on the effect of climate change points out that the level of vulnerability is not the same across regions and sectors [10]. 

The effects of climate change span the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. It also includes the economic and social changes which stem from living in a warmer world. Human-caused climate changes is one of the threats to sustainability [11].

Many physical impacts of climate change are already visible, including extreme weather events, glacier retreats [12], changes in the timing of seasonal events (e.g. earlier flowering of plants) [13], sea level rise and declines in Arctic Sea ice extent [14]. Climate change has already impacted ecosystems and humans. In combination with climate variability, this makes food insecurity worse in many places [15] and puts pressure on fresh water supply. This, in combination with extreme weather events, lead to negative effects on human health.

In the view of Idowu, Ayoola, Opele and Ikenweiwe, climate change in Nigeria affects crop production in a number of ways, for example, uncertainties and variation in the pattern of rainfall, floods and devastated farmlands, cause pest and diseases, migration in response to climate change while high temperature smother crops [16]. Likewise, the activities of the oil rich multinational companies in the Niger Delta such as oil spillage which is deleterious to the environment leads to Climate Change. This in turn affects the humans as well as the environment in the region and also brings about migration as a result of the unfavourable condition that climate change brings about. 

Refugee Protection

There are two strands of international law providing for international protection: international refugee law and international human rights law. To confine to our focal point, Guild stated that the modern framework of international obligations in respect of persons in need of international protection dates from the end of World War II [17]. To Goodwin-Gill and McAdam [18], the international convention on refugees were revised and updated as a result of the tremendous pressures which had arisen from the 1930s onward in Europe. In Africa, The African Charter of 1981 affords every person whose right is persecuted to seek and obtain asylum in other countries in accordance with laws of those countries and international conventions [19]. From the above stated views, it is crystal clear that matters bothering on international refugee laws have gained international recognition among contracting parties and that it affords member states to domesticate same under their municipal laws. According to Prof. Felicia Anyogu and Dr MVC Ozioko [20], they posited that the constitution or the governing law of a country generally provides the fundamental human rights for each person (including refugee) and hence guarantees their protection. They further opined that for a refugee to qualify for refugee status in Nigeria, what will be considered is the way refuge is defined in our national laws [21].

Legal Regime on Climate Change and Refugee Protection

Climate Change

As scientists continue to warn that the world stands the risk of witnessing an abrupt sea level rise, frequency of extreme weather events, the spread of diseases and loss of lives as a result of climate change if no drastic action is taken, municipal laws, conventions, protocols, policies and treaties are also being developed to deal with the challenges of climate change [22]. 

In recognition of the role of law, governments all over the world, policy makers and international organizations have used law to address the challenges of climate change. In this regard, stemming from the fact that climate change is not the responsibility of any one particular person but that of all, the global approach pushed by the United Nations is one in which there is concerted effort at ensuring sustainability of the common heritage of mankind.

The Stockholm Conference on Human Environment in 1972 acted as a catalyst for the need for collective action on climate change. It established the principle that the use of the Earth’s resources has to be regulated in line with the aim of maintaining development opportunities, primarily to enhance and preserve the human environment [23]. This was followed by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development otherwise known as the ‘Rio Conference’ in 1992, which had 176 countries in attendance. The purpose of the conference was to set out the basis on which states and people were to cooperate and further develop international law in the field of sustainable development. The product of this conference was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was opened for signature at Rio de Janeiro. Its principal objective is the stabilization of greenhouses concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system.

Afterwards, a law making body known as the Conference of Parties which meets annually was established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This body is charged with the responsibility of devising ways to implement the UNFCCC goals. They met at Kyoto Japan in 1997 where the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated. The Kyoto Protocol came into force in 2005. The objective of this Protocol was to reduce emissions to about 30% below what would have occurred under business as usual. The limitation must be met between 2008 and 2012. This Protocol also gave each country the freewill to make its own decisions on how to reduce emissions. 

Furthermore, in 2009 world leaders met at Copenhagen, Denmark for another conference of parties. At the conference, climate change was recognised as one of the greatest challenge in present times and that prompt actions must be taken to keep any temperature increase below 2°C. It was also agreed that an international framework for climate change mitigation, which should be a successor to the Kyoto Protocol after 2012 be implemented.

In Nigeria, what can be regarded as the first point of contact for climate change is section 20 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which provides that “the State shall protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air and land, forest and wild life in Nigeria”. However, this provision is under Chapter 2 of the Constitution which deals with Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy. It is however regrettable to note that the provisions of this chapter is usually at the discretion of the government of Nigeria to perform them. This then makes the right to a healthy environment vulnerable. Nigeria’s effort at tackling climate change started with the establishment of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) through Decree 59 in 1992. The administration of climate change in Nigeria was first identified and situated in the Department of Planning and Evaluation under the defunct Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) as part of the mandate of the Agency. This Agency led the Nigeria delegation to the United Nations conference in Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which was opened for signature at the conference. The convention was however ratified in 1994. Federal Environmental Protection Agency became the national focal-point for implementing the Convention. The Agency also led Nigeria delegates to the first Conference of Parties to the Convention in 1995 at Berlin Germany which culminated into the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 in Japan [24]. However, in 2007 the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (Establishment) Act replaced the defunct Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA). The Agency is authorised to enforce compliance with laws, guidelines, policies and standards of environmental matters. Such standards would include the federal water quality standards and air quality standards. In carrying out its functions, it is to coordinate and liaise with stakeholders within and outside Nigeria on matters of environmental standards, regulations and enforcement. Relevant stakeholders would include organised private sector, environmental groups at both national and international levels and other ministries and parastatals [25]. It is regrettable to note at this juncture that there has not been any major legal framework on Climate Change in Nigeria and as such, nothing to comply with and enforce as it relates to climate change. On the other hand, refugees are a recognizable result of the breakdown of the economic and/or political situation in an area. Refugees flee violence, discrimination, economic hardship and political conflicts. In some ways, the very existence of refugees is evidence of the world’s economic and political disparities, thus proving that many changes need to occur in the world before intractable conflict becomes a thing of the past [26].

Refugee Protection

Generally, Refugees are identified as refugees under the 1951 Convention relating to the status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. Refugees are a recognizable result of the breakdown of the economic and/or political situation in an area. Refugees flee violence, discrimination, economic hardship, political conflicts and natural disaster. The definition of Refugee in any country depends on the national laws, Constitutions and legislation of the said country in issue [27]. However, in Nigeria, it is the national laws and the international instruments to wit-the 1951 United Nations Conventions relating to the Status of Refugees and its optional protocol and the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee problems in Africa. Nigeria has ratified the two international treaties and one is minded to believe that the national law is domestication or at least an attempt to adopt the international treaties. In Nigeria, the National Commission for Refugees Act (NCR) of 1989 became the statutory provisions for issues relating to its refugees. The National Commission for Refugees Act seeks to safeguard the interest and treatment of asylum seekers and refugees in Nigeria. It does not define the word ‘refugees’ but reveals that any person who satisfies the definition in the Convention that is the 1967 Protocol and the Africa Union Convention is a Nigerian Refugee. It therefore includes both the subjective criteria of fear of persecution, eliminating the geographical and time limitations and also compelling circumstances disturbing public order in the victim’s country of origin. The National Commission for Refugee was established by Decree 52 of 1989 which metamorphosed into the National Commission for Refugees Act CAP N21 Laws of the Federation, 2004. The commission is saddled with the responsibility that all aims and objectives as provided for in principal Act are carried out effectively. Section 3(1) of the Act provides that the Commission is to operate under the supervision of the Secretary to the Federal Government. The Commission shall be constituted by a Chairman who shall be appointed by the President, a representative of the Secretary to the Federal Government as Vice Chairman, the Federal Commissioner for Refugees or his representative, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or his representative, the Permanent Secretary of Internal Affairs or his representative and the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Nigeria as observer to be invited by the Commission from time to time to the meetings of the Commission where the matters to be deliberated upon have international dimensions. 

Stratagem of Nigeria's Law on Climate Change and Refugee Protection in line with International Standard Best Practices

Nigeria joined the League of Nations in their efforts towards mitigating climate change by becoming a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 as a Non-Annexing 1 party and the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. As a Non-Annex 1 party signatory, Nigeria is not required to take actions to curtail its emission of Green House Gases. However, Nigeria is obliged to issue four key National Communications namely:

• In-depth review summaries

• A progress report

• A National Adaptation Programme of Action

• A Global Climate Observing System Report 

To be part of a shared agenda on climate change, adaptation and mitigation, Nigeria is already committed to the following regional networks: Nairobi Declaration Adopted by the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCAN) in May 2009, the Convention of African Heads of State on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) created in July 2009. In 2010, Nigeria hosted a study group among African legislatures that produced recommendations on concrete steps parliament can take to use their legislative functions to address the efforts of climate change. 

Furthermore, in the same year 2010, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted the framework of strategic guidelines on the Reduction of Vulnerability and Adaptability to Climate Change in West Africa. The objective of this agreement was to build scientific and technical capability to reduce climate change vulnerability in member states, integrate climate in National and Regional development policies and implement climate change adaptation programmes.

In the other hand, in responding to the challenges of Refugee in Nigeria, the Nigeria Regional Refugee Response Plan was established which is aimed at mobilizing support for the inter-agency response to the refugee situation emerging from the South-East Niger, South-West Chad and Northern Cameroon and to present the corresponding emergency programme needs. These countries are affected by a continuing influx of refugees from the North-Eastern Nigeria seeking safety from attacks by armed insurgents.   

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, together with the Government of the countries of asylum, has already started to establish protection monitoring systems and coordinate initial emergency assistance, in close collaboration with the United Nation sister agencies, international and national non-governmental organizations. 

The following response strategy for Nigerian refugees was developed by the United Nations agencies, government agencies with frontline social workers in 2013:

Protection

This seeks to ensure access to the asylum and freedom of movement through documentation. Persons with specific needs and children at risk are systematically and swiftly identified and referred to relevant services. This is aimed at providing psychological and other support for unaccompanied minors and separate children in camps.

Education

Identification of students among the refugee population with additional classrooms that are built to expand the capacity of the school at the camp. The objective is to provide secondary and early childhood education for all refugee girls and boys.

Health

Medical and nutritional screenings, active surveillance and response to diseases of epidemic potential such as cholera, vaccinations for polio and measles and sensitization campaigns about cholera prevention during the registration process. There are also psychological and referral services for people with mental health illnesses.

Livelihood and Environment

More than 200 families are already receiving assistance in agriculture sector and several partners foresee to expand livelihood projects. Some of the refugees brought their animals to the refugee camp. Therefore, partners need to ensure with local authorities to allocate grazing land and veterinary services for the refugees.

Challenges of Climate Change and Refugee Protections Laws and Policies in Nigeria

It has been noted that Nigeria does not have a strong central institution to oversee the strategy above. The government itself admitted the naughty nature of this problem thus:

One absolutely critical factor that needs to be emphasized here is the general inability of the national and regional agencies in-charge of the environment to enforce codes, regulations and laws especially with respect to urban planning and infrastructure development, mineral prospecting, adherence to industrial standard and installation of facilities in ecologically sensitive zones [28].

However, in accordance with Articles 4 and 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which states that non-Annex 1 parties should include information on a national inventory of anthropogenic emissions by source and absorption by sinks of all Green House Gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, within the limits of her possibilities, using in its preparation the comparable methodologies promoted and approved by the Conference of Parties, Nigeria has prepared and submitted three GHGs inventories, two for the years 1994 and 2000 in its initial and second National Communications and a third one on its First Biennial Report, submitted in 2018. Nigeria has also prepared its fourth national inventory of GHGs within the framework of the preparation of its Third National Communication (TNC), in accordance with the UNFCCC guidelines for the preparation of national communications from non-Annex 1 parties. (Decision 17/CP.8) [29] be deduced that Nigeria and many other African Countries tend to place climate change adaptation solely within the environment sector, with no reference to other sectoral plans. This fate is common to Nigeria’s development policies and strategies as well as for implementation of international development conventions, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the United Nations development Declaration.

On the part of refugee protection, it is generally observed that climate change may not itself trigger movement of people. It is further observed that it is rare to find if there is a direct link between climate change and movement [30]. However it is climate specific events which may cause movement but the link of such specific event for instance storms with climate change [31]. On this premise, hereunder are the challenges posed by refugee protection laws as they are not limited thus:

• Question of access to international protection 

• Lack of consistency and coherence between the internal and external dimensions of contracting states by the development of the integrated border management and global approach to migration and mobility

• Countries without refugee/asylum laws/non membership to 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol

• Non contemplation of climate refugees in the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol

Comparative Analysis of Nigeria and Mexico Laws on Climate Change and Refugees Protection

In some Latin American countries, attacking nature is a crime whereas others promote the buying and selling of gases that destroy the atmosphere. Mexico, which is our case study, has announced the adoption of a National Climate Change Strategy which focuses on reducing emissions and promoting multi-sectoral public policies on climate [32]. 

Mexico has been an active player in international efforts to tackle climate change for the past two-and-a-half decades, helping to advance international climate change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and through other relevant forums such as the G20. It became the first developing country to submit an intended Nationally Determined Contribution leading up to the adoption of the Paris Agreement [33].

In 2012, Mexico's congress passed the General Law on Climate Change (GLCC), which entered into force that same year. The law and other national mitigation instruments like the National Program for Climate Change (NPCC), set a target for a 30% reduction in Green House Gases emissions by 2020 and a 50% reduction below 2000 levels by 2050. Since the law inception in 2012, Mexico has been evolving in its commitment to climate change mitigation and adaptation policies by introducing new internal governance mechanisms like the climate planning instruments, which broadly include the following: National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS), which provides short, medium and long term vision on climate national efforts to reduce emissions. 

Also, the Special Climate Change Program 2014-2018 provides an instrument that links national priority targets with mitigation and adaptation efforts at federal level but also at state and municipal level. A new Special Climate Change Program is also expected to be published by 2021. Likewise, in the 2018 reform to the General Climate Change Law, the Mexican Ministry of Environment has been given the mandate to establish an Emission Trading System, published in October 2019 and which started operation in January 2020. This is expected to last until December 2021 before entering a one-year transition period while the formal phase of its functioning and implementation is set to begin in January 2023. 

However in Nigeria, the Federal Government has not done much on climate change thus far. Nigeria's First National Communication on Climate Change came out in 2003 and the then president set up a Special Climate Change Unit in the Ministry of Environment to manage the issue [34]. In 2011, Nigeria released its National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action on Climate Change. This outlined policy recommendations for improving adaptation for sectors including agriculture, coastal farming, forestry and energy production [35]. This was followed in 2020 with the release of a framework report for its upcoming National Adaptation Plan. This framework plan aims to ‘clarify Nigeria's approach’ to climate adaptation after years of what some perceived to be inaction. The report outlines the guiding principles for Nigeria’s upcoming adaptation plan, which includes involving young people, focusing adaptation around communities and ecosystems and incorporating indigenous knowledge. The Ministry’s proposed 2011 budget shows climate change-related capital projects worth $20 million. State governments have largely been unengaged with the arguable exception of Lagos.   

It can however be deduced from the above that the legal framework of Nigeria’s Climate Change is still very young and premature. Therefore, efforts must be made to involve every tier of government about activities that bring about Climate Change. Adequate and sufficient sensitization about the future negative impact of climate change must be carried out on the oncoming generation. This will involve the concerted efforts of the Federal, State and most especially the local Government who are closer to the people, Professional Bodies, Academia and all Stakeholders. On the other hand, Mexico, through international and national law, has instituted a legal framework for the protection of refugees. This framework informs the scope of protection available to an increasing number of migrants arriving Mexico.

Mexico signed the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol in year 2000. In addition, Mexico is party to the 1984 Cartegena Declaration of Refugees. The Cartegena Declaration goes beyond the definition of ‘refugee’ as provided in the 1951 Geneva Convention to include, “persons who have fled their countries because their lives, safety, or freedom have been threatened by generalized violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation of human rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order.” 

Mexico's law concerning Refugees and Asylum was not drafted until 2009. It was signed into law in December 2011. The law, which was written with technical support from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), incorporates the broader definition of ‘refugee’ found in the Cartegena Declaration. Thus, Mexico’s Law on Refugees and Complementary Protection and Political Asylum grants protection for people whose lives have been threatened by generalized violence but would not be considered refugees under the 1951 convention. It also considers gender as grounds for persecution, incorporates the principle of non-refoulement and includes provisions regarding non-discrimination. This law combines practices such as permission to work, access to health care services and access to education. Mexico has also treated its refugee population well and tends to be a leader in providing support and services to refugees from Latin American countries as well as some African Countries [36]. Nigeria on the other hand has ratified and domesticated the various international treaties on Refugee. The National Commission for Refugee Act provides for the legal and administrative framework for refugee management. Additionally, Nigeria acceded to the 1954 Convention Relating to Status of Stateless Persons; the 1961 Convention on the Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness in 2011 and to the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) in May 2012. Nigeria also made a pledge at the Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Stateless Persons held in Geneva in December 2011 to ensure law reforms and domestication of these instruments. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is cooperation with the various national agencies towards these objectives [37].

In Nigeria, there exists a legal and administrative framework for protection of human rights through the 1999 Constitution as amended and the National Human Rights Commission respectively. Civil societies have also continued to promote reforms in this sector. As of 2012, there were 3154 refugees and 1024 asylum-seekers registered in Nigeria which numbers have tripled as at 2020. There was a significant reduction in the number of refugees after the cessation clause for the Liberian refugees came into effect, as it applied to about 60% of the refugee population. This resulted in the issuance of national Liberian passports and ECOWAS residence permits to 184 Liberian refugees under the local integration programme. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has also concluded an agreement with the National Commission for Refugees and the National Health Insurance Scheme for the enrolment of over 600 refugees on the Integrated Health Insurance Plan. That notwithstanding, the National Commission for Refugees in Nigeria need adequate funding in order to achieve its objectives. The commission also needs proper monitoring and qualified manpower in order to develop and implement strategies to clear the backlog of refugees and to achieve excellent results. 

From the above indices, it is suggested that there is a direct link between climate change and movement of climate refugees from their environmentally disadvantaged states to where they can enjoy international environmental protections regardless of whether or not the receiving country is without asylum laws. To forestall the problems of climate change and asylum seekers owing to global climate crisis is for national, regional and international communities to bring at par their nationally distributed contributions (NDCs) in conformity with the Paris Agreement of 2015 which is about to be reviewed in the Glasgow Convention 2021 by the COP 26; secondly, there should be national and international amendments to laws regulating climate change and refugees status in Nigeria and Mexico to accommodate climate refugees and their international environmental protection in line with the international best standard practice.

In conclusion, the word ‘climate change’ does not in itself trigger movement of people as it is very difficult to find if there is a direct relationship between climate change and movement of refugees. Authors and writers have shared different views on this whereby some posited that it is some specific events linked with climate change that necessitated movement of asylum seekers from one end to another while others were of the firm views that climate change itself is capable of initiating environmental migration. It is not of the writers to take side but our firm position is that in our environmentally changing world, climate change is capable of rendering people to become climate refugees notwithstanding that none of those international conventions and protocol contemplated need for climate refugees to be clothed with international protections whenever their environmental right is curtailed due to persecution or risk. To that extent, the challenges pose by climate change and refugee protection laws cannot be overstretched but the writers’ resolutions are contained in the firm expression of Professor Castles where he posited that “if we are then to understand the challenges of climate induced migration, this will have to take place within the context of the existing international norms and best standard practices but that has not be done until now.”

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