Left without protection? The legal and policy gaps in the European Union’s approach to climate-displaced children’s right to education

Abstract

Climate-induced displacement is a growing global concern, yet children affected by this phenomenon remain largely invisible in European legal and policy frameworks. This research investigates the extent to which the European Union (EU) protects the right to education of climate-displaced children from third countries, whose rights are not protected by current asylum and migration systems, and who therefore face exceptional vulnerability. The study addresses three core questions: the effectiveness of current EU normative protections, the implications of lacking a legal definition of “climate refugee,” and the necessity and impact of formal recognition to guarantee the right to education. The research uses qualitative methodology based on a child-rights-based approach to analyze EU primary and secondary law together with relevant jurisprudence and international human rights instruments. The research shows major normative and implementation gaps which become worse because of the lack of legal recognition that prevents consistent education access across Member States. The analysis shows that legal recognition, which is normatively binding, must be accompanied by parallel policy reform to operationalise children’s rights on the ground. The research develops a reform strategy which unites legal frameworks with administrative tools to resolve identified gaps. protecting their educational rights in the management of migration in the EU. The research establishes a framework that connects legal status to policy access to protect EU child rights from climate vulnerabilities.