The role of international organizations in recognition of climate-induced migration: Biscourse analysis in the European Union, 2010-2020

This thesis examines the role of international organizations within the framework of neoliberal institutionalism and the European Union's (EU) potential leadership in the inclusion of climate-induced migration into the international policy agenda. Although it has been on the policy agenda since the 1980s, it seems that the political debates on the issue have intensified since the 2000s. Especially since the issue has been taken up by organizations including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the EU, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and media attention of climate-induced migration started to emerge, states have also started to become parties to climate-induced migration agreements and collaborations. In this context, the study examines the development of the debate on climate-induced migration through the actions of international institutions, including the United Nations and the EU, on climate-induced migration, and evaluates the EU's potential leadership on climate-induced migration with the discourse analysis method. In specific, the debates on climate migration, which are officially on the EU's agenda since 2010, evaluates in the analysis chapters in the light of official documents published by the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union. This thesis approaches climate migration as a global issue requiring collective action and investigates the role of international organizations in providing cooperation, and the EU's discourse on the legal status of climate migrants and international cooperation. The thesis concludes that the EU is a significant institution with a rising potential to be a leader in mobilizing collective action towards climate migration. Key words: climate-induced migration, climate change, international institutions, European Union.