A/HRC/38/21 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 35/20, in which the Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to undertake research on addressing human rights protection gaps in the context of migration and displacement of persons across international borders resulting from the sudden-onset and slow-onset adverse effects of climate change and the necessary means of implementation of adaptation and mitigation plans of developing countries to bridge the protection gaps, and to submit a report on that research to the Council at its thirty-eighth session. 2. In that resolution, the Council also called for an intersessional panel discussion, with the theme “Human rights, climate change, migrants and persons displaced across international borders”. That discussion took place on 6 October 2017, and a summary report of the discussion was submitted to the Council. 1 3. Throughout 2017, OHCHR, in collaboration with the Platform on Disaster Displacement, undertook research on the slow-onset adverse effects of climate change and human rights protection for cross-border migrants. OHCHR held an expert meeting on the subject on 5 October 2017 and submitted a conference room paper to the Council at its thirty-seventh session.2 4. To further inform its research, OHCHR transmitted a note verbale and questionnaire to all Member States requesting their inputs. Additional requests for inputs were sent to international organizations, national human rights institutions and civil society. 3 5. The panel discussion, written inputs, consultations and independent research informed the present report, which examines the impacts of climate change on human mobility,4 human rights protection gaps for those crossing international borders in response to the adverse effects of climate change, and the relevant human rights obligations of States. The report shares illustrative good practices and concludes with recommendations for fulfilling human rights obligations in the context of climate change-related cross-border human mobility. II. Impacts of climate change on human mobility and related human rights risks 6. Climate change is an increasingly important driver of human mobility. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates that, on average, 21.7 million people were internally displaced each year in the period 2008–2016 by weather-related disasters. 5 Similar global data is not available on cross-border displacement, but the two forms of displacement are linked and internal displacement figures can help to illustrate the potential 1 2 3 4 5 A/HRC/37/35. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/SlowOnset/A_HRC_37_CRP_4.pdf. For information about the Council panel discussion, the expert meeting, the note verbale, the questionnaire and inputs received, see www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/HRAndClimateChange/Pages/HRClimateChangeAndMigration.aspx (stakeholder inputs are referenced here as “name” input). There is no universal legal definition or agreed terminology that describes people who move in the context of climate change. For the present report, such movement is referred to broadly as “human mobility” or “movement”. The term “displacement” is used to describe movements that are predominately forced, while “migration” is used to describe movement that is not predominately forced but nonetheless may not be entirely voluntary. Where reference is made to people with specific legal entitlements under international law, such as refugees, this is indicated. The term “migrant” refers to any person outside a State of which they are a citizen or national or, in the case of a stateless person, their State of birth or habitual residence. See Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, “Global Report on Internal Displacement” (Geneva, 2017), p. 3. Available at www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2017/pdfs/2017-GRID.pdf. 3