Climate-Induced Displacement and Multi-Level Governance: A Comparative Analysis of Brazil and Italy

Climate change has increasingly emerged as a driver of human displacement, intensifying existing social vulnerabilities and challenging established governance frameworks. While climate-induced displacement is often framed as a humanitarian or environmental issue, this thesis approaches it as a governance challenge situated at the intersection of climate governance, migration governance, and human rights. It argues that climate-induced displacement is not merely the result of environmental harm, but is produced and managed through fragmented and multi-level governance structures that diffuse responsibility and constrain accountability. The thesis examines how climate-induced displacement is governed across multiple levels of authority, focusing on the interaction between global, regional, national, and local actors. It employs a qualitative comparative methodology, analyzing Brazil and Italy as contrasting case studies that occupy different structural positions within the international system. Brazil represents a context of large-scale internal displacement linked to climate vulnerability, while Italy illustrates governance challenges associated with reception, emergency management, and the externalization of responsibility within the European Union framework. The analysis demonstrates that, in both cases, governance responses to climate-induced displacement are shaped by regime fragmentation, legal indeterminacy, and the absence of explicit displacement recognition. Despite significant differences in legal systems and institutional architectures, both countries exhibit patterns of responsibility diffusion, reactive policy responses, and reliance on emergency or ad hoc measures. Legal frameworks provide important normative principles but remain insufficient to generate coherent and anticipatory displacement governance in the absence of coordinated institutional arrangements. By applying a multi-level governance framework, the thesis highlights how misalignments between authority, responsibility, and capacity undermine effective protection for displaced populations. It further shows how framing processes - such as the treatment of displacement as adaptation strategy, humanitarian emergency, or security concern - shape governance priorities and legitimize limited responses. Ultimately, the study contributes to broader debates on climate governance and human mobility by demonstrating that addressing climate-induced displacement requires moving beyond legal recognition alone toward governance structures capable of aligning responsibility and accountability across levels.