From Sea to Land: Building the nexus between Overfishing, Climate Change, and Migration in Cape Verde's Coastal Communities

Supervisor/s: Pedro Góis and Loren Landau

Doctoral Programme: Sociology of the State, Law and Justice

Climate change constitutes an interconnected challenge and an existential threat to the oceans, fisheries, and livelihoods of those who depend on them. Cabo Verde is at the forefront of this existential crisis and its commitment may not be enough. Rising sea levels and the loss of biodiversity and marine ecosystems due to practices such as overfishing leave the archipelago in a state of action emergency. The majority of research has focused on the mitigation of overfishing as climate action and its impact on community livelihoods but, overfishing as a cause, albeit not a direct one, of climate-induced migration has yet to be explored. Building on a transconstitutional theoretical framework that favors an interdisciplinary approach and a dialogue between legal systems, this study aims to address the interconnected challenges of overfishing, climate-induced migration, and their impacts on the children of Cape Verde's coastal communities, considering its bonds with the EU.