Abstract

Drowning Coastlines: Human Rights Amid the Climate Crisis

P Sai Pavani

Volume: 13 Issue: 4 2023

Abstract:

As the effects of climate change exacerbate, coastal communities across the globe are getting hit by rising sea levels and natural disasters at an accelerated pace. Those changes are jeopardizing people’s homes, livelihoods, rights, especially in small island nations. Floods and erosion are making many coastal regions unlivable, forcing people to relocate. This raises important questions of how to ensure the protection of these displaced communities and what responsibility the international community has to them. Acknowledging this reality demands a fresh perspective that includes the protection of human rights, adaptation and relocation. This paper explores the relationship between climate change and human rights, and calls on the need of urgent action to safeguard the people disproportionately affected by the climate crisis.

Back Download

References

• Alongi, D. M. (2015). The impact of climate change on mangrove forests. Current Climate Change Reports, 1(1), 30– 39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-015-0002-x
• Amnesty International. (2021). Stop burning our rights! What governments and corporations must do to protect humanity from the climate crisis. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol30/4026/2021/en/
• Bedford, R., & Bedford, C. (2010). International migration and climate change: A post-Copenhagen perspective on options for Kiribati and Tuvalu. In Climate Change and Migration: South Pacific Perspectives. United Nations University.
• Bronen, R. (2014). Climate-induced community relocations: Creating an adaptive governance framework based on human rights doctrine. NYU Review of Law & Social Change, 35(2), 357–406.
• Bronen, R. (2015). Climate-induced community relocations: Creating an adaptive governance framework based on human rights doctrine. New York University Review of Law & Social Change, 35(2), 357–408.
• Dangendorf, S., Hay, C., Calafat, F. M., et al. (2019). Persistent acceleration in global sea-level rise since the 1960s. Nature Climate Change, 9(9), 705–710. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0531-8
• Farbotko, C., & Lazrus, H. (2012). The first climate refugees? Contesting global narratives of climate change in Tuvalu. Global Environmental Change, 22(2), 382–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.11.014
• Farbotko, C., & McMichael, C. (2019). Voluntary immobility and existential security in a changing climate in the Pacific. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 60(2), 148–162. https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.12205
• Government of Fiji. (2018). Planned relocation guidelines: A framework to undertake climate change-related relocation. https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/5c3c92204.pdf
• Held v. State of Montana. (2023). First constitutional climate trial in U.S. history. Montana First Judicial District Court.
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). (2017). *Advisory Opinion OC23/17*. https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/opiniones/seriea_23_ing.pdf
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). (2023). Request for advisory opinion on climate change and human rights. https://www.corteidh.or.cr/index.php/en/advisory-opinions
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2019). Special report on the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate. https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2021). Sixth assessment report – The physical science basis. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
• Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). (2023). Global report on internal displacement 2023. https://www.internal-displacement.org
• International Organisation for Migration (IOM). (2018). Migration and climate change in Bangladesh. https://publications.iom.int/books/migration-and-climate-change-bangladesh
• Jessee, N. (2020). The Isle de Jean Charles resettlement: Lessons for climate-induced relocation policy in the United States. Climate Policy, 20(8), 978–991. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2020.1719870
• Keenan, J. M., Hill, T., & Gumber, A. (2018). Climate gentrification: From theory to empiricism in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Environmental Research Letters, 13(5), 054001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aabb32
• Khan, A. E., Ireson, A., Kovats, S., et al. (2011). Drinking water salinity and maternal health in coastal Bangladesh: Implications of climate change. Environmental Health Perspectives, 119(9), 1328– 1332. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1002804
• McAdam, J. (2012). Climate change, forced migration, and international law. Oxford University Press.
• McAdam, J. (2020). Protecting people displaced by the impacts of climate change: The UN Human Rights Committee and the principle of non-refoulement. American Journal of International Law, 114(4), 708– 725. https://doi.org/10.1017/ajil.2020.31
• McDonnell, T. (2014). The sinking state: Kiribati looks to a future underwater. TIME Magazine. https://time.com/3134681/kiribati-climate-change/
• NASA. (2023). Vital signs: Sea level. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/sea-level/
• Nicholls, R. J., Hinkel, J., Lincke, D., & van der Pol, T. (2021). Global investment costs for coastal defence through the 21st century. Nature Communications, 12, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22804-9
• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (2015). Understanding human rights and climate change. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/COP21.pdf
• OHCHR. (2021). *Human Rights Council resolution 48/13: The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment*. https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/48/13
• PACJA. (2021). Pacific climate warriors: Indigenous youth leading the climate fight. https://pacja.org/pacificclimate-warriors
• Rasmussen, D. J., Bittermann, K., Gilmore, E. A., et al. (2021). Extreme sea level implications of 1.5°C, 2.0°C, and 2.5°C temperature stabilization targets in the 21st and 22nd centuries. Environmental Research Letters, 16(4), 044033. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe37f
• Rich, N. (2019). The sinking of Jakarta. The New York Times Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/21/magazine/jakarta-sinking.html
• Roberts, J. T., & Huq, S. (2015). Coming full circle: The history of loss and damage under the UNFCCC. International Journal of Global Warming, 8(2), 141–157. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJGW.2015.071964
• Storlazzi, C. D., Elias, E. P. L., & Berkowitz, P. (2018). Many atolls may be uninhabitable within decades due to climate change. Scientific Reports, 8, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32658-3
• Tong, A. (2015). Quoted in UN Climate Change Conference, COP21. Kiribati: “We may be going underwater, but we are not disappearing.” https://news.un.org/en/story/2015/12/517712
• UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC). (2020). *Views adopted by the committee under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, concerning communication No. 2728/2016 (Ioane Teitiota v. New Zealand)*. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/legal-opinions-and-expert-reports/ccprc127d27282016-viewshuman-rights-committee
• UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC). (2022). *Torres Strait Islanders v. Australia – CCPR/C/135/D/3624/2019*. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/decisions/ccprc135d36242019-decision-humanrights-committee
• UNFCCC. (2021). COP26 Indigenous Peoples Participation. https://unfccc.int/news/indigenous-peoples-at-cop26
• UNFCCC. (2023). Loss and damage fund operationalised at COP28. https://unfccc.int/news/cop28-agrees-on-lossand-damage-fund
• UNICEF. (2021). Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in small island developing states. https://www.unicef.org/wash
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). (2020). SIDS and Climate Change. https://unfccc.int/topics/resilience/workstreams/parties-and-observers/small-island-developing-states
• United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). (2023). *Request for an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on climate change obligations. A/RES/77/276*. https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/77/276
• Walsham, M. (2010). Assessing the evidence: Environment, climate change and migration in Bangladesh. IOM Bangladesh. https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl486/files/migrated_files/What-We-Do/docs/Assessment-of-theEvidence-Environment-Climate-Change-and-Migration-in-Bangladesh.pdf
• Werner, A. D., Ward, J. D., Morgan, L. K., et al. (2017). Seawater intrusion and coastal aquifer management: A review. Groundwater, 55(3), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.12475
• World Bank. (2020). Bangladesh: Building resilience to climate change. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/02/06/bangladesh-building-resilience-to-climate-change
• World Bank. (2022). Climate inequality report. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange/publication/climate-inequality-report
• World Health Organisation (WHO). (2021). Climate change and health. https://www.who.int/news-room/factsheets/detail/climate-change-and-health
• Yamamoto, L., & Esteban, M. (2014). Atoll Island States and International Law: Climate Change Displacement and Sovereignty. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38186-7