Climate change and the future of citizenship : three essays

Abstract

The 2024 GLOBALCIT – Rainer Bauböck essay competition asked participants to answer the following questions: “How will climate change impact on citizenship? How should citizenship adapt to climate change?” The three essays collected in this working paper are the submissions that were ranked highest by the jury. Using the example of Honduras, Roberto Ramos Obando, the winner of the award, considers how citizens suffering different forms of severe impact of climate change on their lives experience a deterioration of their citizenship status, rights and identity compared to other citizens. Madeleine Chambers discusses the citizenship of Pacific Island nations submerged by rising sea levels and proposes a hybrid, dual citizenship model, combining a jus sanguinis e-citizenship of their home state and citizenship of their host state. Bantayehu Demlie Gezahegn also considers the fate of small island nations and makes the case for a virtual citizenship or citizenship despite non-residence. In broader scenarios where climate change triggers involuntary mobility, he calls for the expansion of the global refugee definition using already existing models from Africa and Latin America.