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On September 24, 2026, IRAP, alongside ten partners, held an expert roundtable as part of Climate Week NYC: (Re)Setting a U.S. Policy for Climate Mobility. Designed to kick off a series of convenings to advance a U.S. climate mobility policy playbook for a future Presidential administration, the roundtable surfaced a number of new ideas, guiding principles, and lessons learned from past efforts.
I. Principles to Undergird a Rights-based Climate Mobility Policy
To advance a rights-based climate mobility policy, climate justice and human rights frameworks are key. Experts said that internationally, a climate justice lens means acknowledging the commitments of the United States, which is the largest historic emitter of greenhouse gases. Domestically, they described the need to recognize how climate impacts compound issues of structural racism and systemic oppression – and the need to ensure that climate adaptation policies address and do not exacerbate these harms.
Generally, the experts asserted that a U.S. policy for climate mobility must center the autonomy, rights, and needs of people impacted by climate change. They noted that most of the climate-related displacement happening today is internal, that many people do not wish to migrate at all, and that the effects of climate change intersect with other structural harms, such as gender-based violence. The experts underscored the importance of a rights-based climate mobility policy honoring that climate-impacted people have a range of plans, needs, and interests responsive to those impacts. For example, one expert recommended that the United States could advocate for funds from the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage to go directly to communities, which is not currently the Fund’s policy in its pilot phase.
Finally, experts highlighted that refugee leaders and others displaced by climate are well-positioned to speak to the causes of their displacement and lead advocacy on the needs of their home communities, rights in transit, and protections in destination countries. Conversely, experts noted that some climate-impacted people do not conceptualize their displacement as being related to climate change, noting opportunities for mutual education among advocates and impacted communities.
II. A Patchwork Approach to Lawful Pathways to Serve Climate-Impacted People
Experts recognized the necessity – and challenge – of reforming lawful pathways to meet the needs of climate-displaced people. Many climate-displaced people are unable to access lawful pathways as they stand, and many people who now reside in the United States on account of climate-related displacement, among other reasons, lack access to permanent status.
However, experts suggested that a patchwork approach of various legislative and administrative tools could expand meaningfully these legal protections, while comprehensive approaches face more political headwinds. For example, the Dream and Promise Act, if passed, could provide a path for permanent status to Temporary Protected Status holders, many of whom were driven from their homes originally by climate-related events. Panelists noted that while some legislative fixes seem perpetually unattainable, political moments can shift rapidly.
Experts noted the multiplicity of ways people and elected officials may gain literacy around the growing need for climate-related legal protections: for some, it may be learning about conditions in Guatemala’s Dry Corridor; for others, it may be witnessing brutalities of mass deportation inflicted on their immigrant neighbors within the United States.
III. Lessons from Current and Past Climate Mobility Policy Efforts
To enact an effective U.S. policy for climate mobility, experts highlighted key lessons from past administration attempts to build new solutions around climate mobility. First, President Biden’s issuance of an executive order requiring the federal government to address climate and migration, as well a mandated report on the topic, was a crucial foundation for policymaking. However, in the absence of senior, White House-level direction to advance climate mobility as a consistent priority issue, climate mobility policy tended to be more technocratic in practice, lacking the political will for bold change or sustained engagement.
Second, the principal framing of climate mobility foremost as an international issue under the remit of the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development missed the opportunity to bolster political will domestically. Connecting international climate displacement to the climate impacts people in the United States experience directly (as the Biden administration attempted to do on a small subset of policies on planned relocation) could foster greater understanding, solidarity, and political support for climate mobility policies in the future.
Third, recognizing the challenge of not knowing the future structure of relevant government agencies in a new administration, panelists emphasized the need to nevertheless be prepared with coherent policies and clear responsibilities across the interagency architecture to carry out a strong climate mobility agenda.
Finally, experts recognized the strong leadership at the state and local levels to advance climate mobility solutions, with Cincinnati, Ohio and other cities, at the forefront of this effort. These initiatives and policies are testing and improving pragmatic approaches that may inform federal efforts in the future.
IV. Lessons from the International and Legal Sphere
The expert roundtable highlighted various themes considering international legal contexts on climate mobility. First, the United States has a significant extraordinary amount to learn and benefit from international climate-related initiatives and task forces, such as the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage’s Task Force on Displacement and Technical Guide on Integrating Human Mobility and Climate Change Linkages into Relevant National Climate Change Planning Processes.
Second, experts highlighted the importance of the United States rejoining the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement in the future, and engaging across international institutions to develop new solutions to both climate change and growing climate-related displacement.
Third, experts noted that despite the absence of an international legal instrument that can directly and comprehensively address climate displacement and related rights, numerous existing and anticipated documents can serve as effective tools for advocacy. These include UNHCR’s Legal Considerations Regarding Claims for International Protection Made in the Context of the Adverse Effects of Climate Change and Disasters, the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change, and UNHCR’s Global Recommendations on Nationality and Statelessness in the Context of Climate Change, among others. A new treaty on the protection of persons in the event of disaster will be negotiated by the UN General Assembly in 2027, which will build on the UN International Law Commission’s 2016 Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters. Experts expressed hope that the United States may contribute constructively to this effort and consider its adoption as appropriate in the future.
Some resolutions from international bodies – such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ Resolution on Human Mobility Induced by Climate Change – also underscore the centrality of family unity and durable status in states’ response to climate displacement. Even if violated routinely, advocates can leverage these international instruments and pronouncements; they can act as guardrails and measures of unlawful behavior.
Fourth, experts noted growing momentum and insights from foreign legislative and judicial contexts. The Climate Mobility Case Database is a global compilation of judicial decisions on climate (im)mobility-related cases, highlighting viable legal arguments for protection in certain contexts. For example, following a landmark judgment from Colombia’s Constitutional Court, Colombia passed a law in 2026 establishing state responsibilities to provide protection and assistance to people impacted by environmental degradation and climate change. This legislation resulted from significant advocacy alongside litigation. Civil society is now working to ensure its implementation and awareness within affected communities. Experts underscored that lessons from around the world suggest legislative change in the United States may depend on sustained advocacy, including grassroots campaigning, storytelling, and cross-sector collaboration that centers climate-impacted communities and fosters narrative change.
Finally, experts noted that climate mobility policy advocacy requires fundamental, democratic rights as a foundation, including the freedom of association and of the press. Solidarity and support across countries, including for advocates to learn how to address climate impacts from a rights-based perspective amidst authoritarian regimes, is critical.
V. Conclusion
The expert roundtable was meant to initiate a new chapter of thinking, as we work together to craft a U.S. climate mobility policy playbook. Building on the insights discussed here and elsewhere, IRAP is pursuing additional analyses, stakeholder engagements, and collaborations to advance an inclusive, cohesive, rights-based, climate mobility agenda for the United States. We are eager to partner in this work, enriching both the thinking and coalition behind this approach.