Recent developments in the protection of environmental migrants: the case of Italy

The article aims to identify the main supranational and national jurisprudential developments in the protection of so-called "environmental migrants". In fact, starting from the guidance taken by the UN Human Rights Committee in the famous Teitiota decision, where for the first time they affirmed the applicability of the prohibition of refoulement in cases related to the adverse effects of climate change and natural disasters, several rulings by European national courts show that a consensus is emerging on the need to offer some kind of protection to environmental migrants. Among them, the the Italian case will be the focus of this contribution, considering, in particular, the orientation taken by the Supreme Court of Cassation, in the Ordinance No. 5022/2021.