Submissions

Informing Community Access to Loss and Damage Funding

From Climate Refugees and Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Washington, DC

A case study to inform the Board of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) based on consultations with communities displaced by climate change in Kenya.

The work to disperse funding under the FRLD, and indeed any efforts to implement meaningful and appropriate solutions for those affected by climate change, must be informed by impacted people. They are best positioned to identify their priorities, needs, gaps and the most impactful ways to deploy resources that facilitate inclusion, representation and compensation of all affected communities.

As such, this case study provides evidence and testimonies from communities Climate Refugees visited in Kenya that are already suffering extreme climate impacts, and who lack the support to withstand those growing climate impacts that put them at risk to grave violations of their human rights, repeated and uncompensated development setbacks, permanent displacement and forced migration. The impacts they are suffering are beyond what can be tackled with adaptation measures.

In other words: they are experiencing Loss and Damage.

Submission to the WIM ExCom on Non-Economic Losses

The Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, the body under the UNFCCC responsible for implementation of approaches to address loss and damage from climate change impacts, is currently undertaking a revision of its technical paper on non-economic losses.

In recognition of the growing awareness around loss and damage as a result of climate change, Climate Refugees has prepared four case studies, which we hope will be helpful to the WIM ExCom as they update the technical paper for the first time since 2013. Climate Refugees’ submissions, available in a single PDF below, are based on our visits to and reporting on Kenya’s Rift Valley.

Planned Relocation: Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs

Climate Refugees recently provided a submission on displacement and planned relocation in the context of climate change, in response to a call for input from Ms. Paula Gaviria-Betancur, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons.

Based on our field visits and reporting from Miami and Kenya, we hope our submission will be helpful to the Special Rapporteur as she prepares her report to the forthcoming 56th session of the Human Rights Council.

Read the full submission below.

Climate Justice and Loss & Damage: Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development

In response to a call for input from the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development, Climate Refugees joined colleagues from the Loss and Damage Collaboration (L&DC) in a submission to inform the Special Rapporteur’s thematic report on climate justice and loss & damage.

Climate Refugees’ contributions to this submission are based on our field work and reporting from Kenya’s Rift Valley. We hope the submission - which can be read in its entirety below as well as on the L&DC site - will be helpful and informative to the Special Rapporteur’s important work in this area.

Submission for the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently considering a request for advisory opinion on the obligations of States when it comes to climate change, a historic case that is the result of a long campaign by youth activists in Vanuatu, who convinced the Government of Vanuatu to lead a resolution at the UN General Assembly. Adopted in March 2023, the resolution formally asked the ICJ to provide clarity on the obligations of States under international law to ensure the protection of the climate and environment, as well as what consequences arise when States fail - whether by act or omission - to do so.

After multiple rounds of written submissions from States and other entities, the Court will commence oral proceedings in late 2024, with the advisory opinion expected in early 2025.

In order to bring attention to the importance of the Court considering climate displacement as part of the proceedings, Climate Refugees submitted - along with several civil society and academic experts - a brief on key issues, which we hope will be useful to Parties as they consider their own positions.

Read the brief we jointly submitted in its entirety below.