Reclaiming Citizenship: Repairing the Past, Preparing the Future

Climate change is forcing millions of people to leave their homes. Rising sea levels, extreme weather, and environmental disasters are making entire regions uninhabitable. Yet, our current system of citizenship—based on where you are born or who your parents are—doesn’t account for these realities. Without urgent reforms, many climate-displaced people will find themselves stateless, without legal protection, and with nowhere to go.

The World Bank estimates that up to 216 million people could be displaced within their own countries by 2050, and many more will need to move internationally. But existing laws don’t recognize them as refugees, and many countries have no pathways for them to gain legal status. It’s time to rethink citizenship to ensure those affected by climate change can rebuild their lives with dignity.

Kiribati is a Pacific Island nation slowly being swallowed by the sea. In 2013, a Kiribati citizen applied for asylum in New Zealand on the basis of displacement due to climate change but his application was denied. In many other vulnerable regions—like Bangladesh or Madagascar—entire communities face displacement without legal recognition and millions face being left in limbo, lacking access to basic rights such as work, healthcare, and education.

Right now, international law does not recognize people displaced by climate change as refugees. The 1951 Refugee Convention protects those fleeing persecution but not those fleeing rising tides or drought. And citizenship laws remain rigidly based on jus soli (right of the soil) or jus sanguinis (right of blood), allowing no room for those whose home soil might have disappeared entirely. This exposes a serious gap: climate migrants are victims of a crisis they did not cause, yet they are denied legal pathways to rebuild their lives elsewhere.

As climate change intensifies, citizenship must evolve to address these realities. The traditional system of assigning nationality based on birthplace or ancestry is inadequate for a world where environmental forces drive mass displacement. Instead, citizenship must be reimagined through a framework that prioritizes global responsibility, expanded legal access, and stronger mobility rights.

A key shift is expanding the principle of jus nexi, as developed by Professor Ayelet Shachar, which ties citizenship to meaningful connections rather than arbitrary birthright. Jus nexi recognizes that people develop deep-rooted ties through residence, work, and social participation. Applying this concept to climate-displaced individuals would allow them to gain legal status in countries where they have established lives, even if they do not meet traditional nationality requirements. New Zealand’s climate visa pilot program offers a promising example of how such policies could be implemented. Yet climate adaptation-only policies do not tackle the root causes of forced mobility, one of the main criticisms by Pacific Islanders of New Zealand’s programme.

Beyond individual pathways, high-emission countries must take responsibility for the displacement they have contributed to. Those nations that have historically emitted the most carbon must bear the burden of offering protection to those forced to flee environmental collapse. One approach is to establish climate displacement visas, granting automatic residency or citizenship to individuals from climate-vulnerable nations. Another is the creation of a Climate Reparations Fund, modeled on Shachar’s birthright lottery levy, which would require wealthy nations to invest in climate adaptation and resettlement initiatives. Additionally, regional migration agreements—similar to the European Union’s free movement system—could facilitate mobility for those displaced by environmental degradation.

Traditional citizenship structures must also be rethought to accommodate greater flexibility and inclusivity. One option is portable citizenship, which would allow people from disappearing nations, like Kiribati, to retain nationality rights even if their homeland ceases to exist. Another solution is strengthening residency-based rights, ensuring that displaced people can work, access healthcare, and integrate into society without needing full citizenship. Furthermore, humanitarian pathways such as expanded refugee programs and resettlement opportunities would allow climate migrants to relocate before disasters force them into crisis migration.

The climate crisis is transforming global migration, but legal systems have not kept pace. Without urgent reforms, millions will be left stateless, without protection or legal recognition. Expanding jus nexi, holding high-emission nations accountable, and introducing new migration pathways are essential steps toward creating a citizenship framework that reflects the needs of the climate era.

This is not simply a migration issue—it is a fundamental question of global justice. The countries most responsible for climate change must ensure that those displaced by its effects are not abandoned. Citizenship should be a tool for inclusion, responsibility, and resilience, not an instrument of exclusion. By rethinking citizenship for a changing world, we can ensure that climate migrants are recognized not as outsiders, but as members of a global community with rights, dignity, and security.

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