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\n\u201cMigrants that fled the effects of climate change did so not out of choice but out of the need to escape conditions that could not provide for even the most fundamental of their rights.\u201d (Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
There were 18.8 million new displacements in 2017 alone due to natural disasters.<\/strong><\/span> While the intensification of weather-related natural disasters may most clearly connect climate change as a driver of migration, slow onset impacts, including \u201csea level rise, salinization, drought, and desertification\u201d also have an adverse effect on human rights and may compel individuals to relocate, either within their country of residence or abroad.<\/p>\n
Central to the need for international action to combat climate change, and to support and protect climate migrants, is the fact that States that contribute the least to climate change are often most impacted by its effects. For example, Africa has been and will continue to be disproportionately impacted by climate change. The continent is \u201cexpected to warm up to 1.5 times faster than the global average\u201d, even though it accounts for only 4% of the world\u2019s total greenhouse gas emissions. More broadly, the World Bank estimates that by 2050 more than 143 million people could become internal climate migrants in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America if no action is taken.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
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Reality from the ground<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_accordion open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” closed_toggle_background_color=”#d6d6d6″ icon_color=”#e09900″ _builder_version=”4.2″ background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” text_orientation=”left” custom_margin=”1px|||||” animation_style=”fold” hover_enabled=”0″][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Climate change impacts on residents of Kiribati” _builder_version=”4.2″ hover_enabled=”0″ toggle_font=”|800|||||||” open=”on”]<\/p>\n
FI has addressed the issue of climate migration in its work, including in its 2014 and 2020 joint submissions for the Universal Periodic Review of Kiribati.[i]<\/span><\/a> The 2014 submission noted the impact of rising sea-levels and an increase in storm surges on the people of Kiribati, which leaves individuals \u201cexposed to sudden inundation and drowning.\u201d[ii]<\/span><\/a> More generally, the impacts of climate change detailed in the submission included land shortages, decreases in agricultural harvests, and an increase in health issues. At the time, FI and partners noted the necessity of determining \u201chow to deal with a nation whose land is increasingly uninhabitable.\u201d[iii]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
Nearly six years later, the international community, while still dealing with this question, has moved towards greater recognition and protection of climate \u2018refugees\u2019 or migrants.<\/p>\n
In January 2020, the UN Human Rights Committee reviewed a communication from a national of the Republic of Kiribati, who was challenging the rejection of his application for refugee status and subsequent deportation from New Zealand. The individual had asserted that climate change and rising sea levels forced him and his family to migrate and, by rejecting his application, New Zealand violated his right to life under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.[iv]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
While the Committee accepted that rising sea levels would \u201clikely render the Republic of Kiribati uninhabitable,\u201d it noted:<\/p>\n
\u201cthe timeframe of 10 to 15 years, as suggested by the author, could allow for intervening acts by the Republic of Kiribati, with the assistance of the international community, to take affirmative measures to protect and, where necessary, relocate its population.\u201d[v]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
The Committee did recognize the effects of climate change, but in this particular situation, found that because of this timeframe and concurrent steps taken by the Government of Kiribati, the individual did not face \u201ca risk of an imminent, or likely, risk of arbitrary deprivation of life upon return to Kiribati.\u201d[vi]<\/span><\/a> Although the petitioner himself was not granted refugee status, the decision ultimately leaves the door open for others seeking protection from the effects of climate change.<\/p>\n
Years prior to the decision, the President of Kiribati had already emphasized that its inhabitants did not want to become refugees and instead coined the concept of \u201cmigration with dignity\u201d where citizens could be prepared and \u201cmake informed future choices\u201d on the reality of the habitability of their nation.[vii]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
_______________<\/span><\/p>\n
[i]<\/span><\/a> 76 Joint Stakeholders\u2019 Submission on: The Human Rights Situations in Kiribati, Universal Periodic Review of the Republic of Kiribati, 35th Session, (20-31 January 2020), Franciscans International, et al, available at https:\/\/franciscansinternational. org\/fileadmin\/media\/2020\/UN_Sessions\/HRC43\/UPR35_Kiribati. pdf<\/p>\n
[ii]<\/span><\/a> Joint Stakeholders\u2019 Submission on: The Human Rights Situations in Kiribati, Universal Periodic Review of the Republic of Kiribati, 21st Session (October-November 2014), Franciscans International, et al, available at http:\/\/www.upr-info.org\/sites\/ default\/files\/document\/kiribati\/session_21_-_january_2015\/ js1_-_joint_submission_1.pdf<\/p>\n
[iii]<\/span><\/a>Id. at para<\/p>\n
[iv]<\/span><\/a>Views adopted by the Committee under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, concerning communication No. 2728\/2016, Human Rights Committee, 7 January 2020, CCPR\/C\/127\/D\/2728\/2016, paras. 1.1 – 2.1, available at https:\/\/ undocs.org\/CCPR\/C\/127\/D\/2728\/2016<\/p>\n
[v]<\/span><\/a>Id. at para. 9.12<\/p>\n
[vi]<\/span><\/a> Id. at para. 4<\/p>\n
[vii]<\/span><\/a>Statement by He Te Beretitenti (President) of the Republic of Kiribati, His Excellency Anote Tong, on the occasion of the Panel Dialogue on Climate Change and Human Rights, 6 March 2015.<\/p>\n
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State Obligations:<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights affirms the right to life. The UN Human Rights Committee notes:<\/p>\n
\u201cEnvironmental degradation, climate change and unsustainable development constitute some of the most pressing and serious threats to the ability of present and future generations to enjoy the right to life [\u2026] Implementation of the obligation to respect and ensure the right to life, and in particular life with dignity, depends, inter alia, on measures taken by States parties to preserve the environment and protect it against harm, pollution and climate change caused by public and private actors.\u201d[i]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
As mentioned before, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights affirms the right to an adequate standard of living, which includes adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has affirmed that the right should be \u201cseen as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity.\u201d[ii]<\/span><\/a> Adequacy is determined in part by climatic, ecological, and other factors.<\/p>\n
_____________<\/span><\/p>\n
[i]<\/span><\/a> General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right to life, 30 October 2018, CCPR\/C\/GC\/36, para. 62, available at https:\/\/tbinternet.ohchr.org\/Treaties\/CCPR\/Shared%20 Documents\/1_Global\/CCPR_C_GC_36_8785_E.pdf<\/p>\n