Climate‐related migration practices from the Cancun Adaptation Framework to the Australia‐Tuvalu Falepili Union treaty: Implications for the international legal regime

Abstract As the detrimental impacts of climate change intensify, individuals vulnerable to climatic disasters have left their homelands and migrated across borders for a better life. With the growing global circulation of human populations, the subject of international climate‐related migration has gained much attention from the international community. From the Cancun Adaptation Framework, first recognising the importance of climate‐related migration, to the Australia‐Tuvalu Falepili Union treaty further advancing international migration practices by achieving bilateral agreement between States, the issues of climate‐related migration have presented novel and complex challenges to international law. These challenges to the current international legal regime include lacking a more synergistic international legal system, existing legal gaps in international human rights protection, affecting States' compliance with their international obligations and threatening the national sovereignty and maritime rights of migrant‐sending countries. Given the interdisciplinary and cross‐cutting nature of climate‐related migration practices, holistic legal responses aimed to coordinate multiple international legal regimes, provide comprehensive legal solutions to fill the legal gaps in climate‐related migration, guarantee effective legal measures of human rights protection and prioritise national security of migrant‐sending countries, should be considered to address current issues and prepare for potential risks associated with climate‐related migration.