Scientific researches have suggested that the Earth's climate is changing at an unprecedented rate every day, which is leading to forced displacement of communities and families across the world. The United Nations recognizes the ramifications of climate change on refugees and other people concerned and is working to provide protection and assistance to people who are affected by environmental concerns.
In such an incident, the UN Rights Committee ruled out a historic judgment in January 2020 stating that the "countries may not deport individuals who face climate change-induced conditions that violate the right to life."
The judgment was ruled out in view of an asylum application filed by Ioane Teitiota, a man from the Pacific island of Kiribati in 2015. Teitiota applied for asylum in New Zealand in the year 2015, stating that the rise in sea level and effects of climate change made Kiribati uninhabitable for all its residents. However, New Zealand denied his asylum application, and he and his family were deported back to Kiribati. He later filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee over violation of his right to life by the New Zealand government.
Responding to the plight of Teitiota, the Committee recognized that climate change is becoming a serious threat to humankind and called for the world governments to take this into serious consideration in order to protect the rights of individuals. In its verdict, the UNHRC also highlighted that it is important for the international community to work together to assist countries that are adversely affected by climate change.
Supporting the UNHRC ruling, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, also acknowledged that it is important for the countries to treat those displaced by climate change as refugees. While the term "climate refugee" does not exist in international law, the UNHCR has suggested that it can be used to identify the "people driven from their homes as an outcome of the climate emergency".
Notably, extreme weather such as floods and storms - triggered by climate change - causes a displacement of millions of people throughout the world. In a report published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), more than 24 million people were displaced within their countries in 2019 due to extreme weather and other disasters. Some of the drivers of climate migration include floods, destruction of crops, wildfires similar to the one seen in Australia, and rising sea levels in low-lying islands.
An increase in climate migration will push the people from vulnerable coastal lowlands to densely populated urban sectors internally deeper.
The effects of climate change and natural disasters can also force people to flee across international borders. It is significantly important for the world governments to act to eliminate the human fingerprint on greenhouse emissions.
In such an incident, the UN Rights Committee ruled out a historic judgment in January 2020 stating that the "countries may not deport individuals who face climate change-induced conditions that violate the right to life."
The judgment was ruled out in view of an asylum application filed by Ioane Teitiota, a man from the Pacific island of Kiribati in 2015. Teitiota applied for asylum in New Zealand in the year 2015, stating that the rise in sea level and effects of climate change made Kiribati uninhabitable for all its residents. However, New Zealand denied his asylum application, and he and his family were deported back to Kiribati. He later filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee over violation of his right to life by the New Zealand government.
Responding to the plight of Teitiota, the Committee recognized that climate change is becoming a serious threat to humankind and called for the world governments to take this into serious consideration in order to protect the rights of individuals. In its verdict, the UNHRC also highlighted that it is important for the international community to work together to assist countries that are adversely affected by climate change.
Supporting the UNHRC ruling, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, also acknowledged that it is important for the countries to treat those displaced by climate change as refugees. While the term "climate refugee" does not exist in international law, the UNHCR has suggested that it can be used to identify the "people driven from their homes as an outcome of the climate emergency".
Notably, extreme weather such as floods and storms - triggered by climate change - causes a displacement of millions of people throughout the world. In a report published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), more than 24 million people were displaced within their countries in 2019 due to extreme weather and other disasters. Some of the drivers of climate migration include floods, destruction of crops, wildfires similar to the one seen in Australia, and rising sea levels in low-lying islands.
An increase in climate migration will push the people from vulnerable coastal lowlands to densely populated urban sectors internally deeper.
The effects of climate change and natural disasters can also force people to flee across international borders. It is significantly important for the world governments to act to eliminate the human fingerprint on greenhouse emissions.
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