Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 04/2011

In Search of Refuge: Pacific Islands, Climate-Induced Migration, and the Legal Frontier

Maxine Burkett

January 2011

East-West Center

Abstract

As the effects of climate change intensify, time is running out for millions living in Asia Pacific coastal and island communities. Many will be forced to leave their homes within the next half century because of increased intensity and frequency of storms and floods, sea-level rise, and desertification.