Submissions

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Submission to the Canadian Senate's Study on Forced Displacement and Climate Change

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In November 2023, Climate Refugees Founder and Executive Director Amali Tower was invited to appear before the Canadian Senate’s Human Rights Committee as part of its study on Forced Global Displacement, to testify about the impacts of climate change on migration and forced displacement, particularly as it relates to adverse impacts on human rights.

Tower was invited to testify on a panel with other expert witnesses, and to provide a brief opening statement, followed by questions from committee members.

Climate Refugees was also invited to submit written testimony to the Senate of Canada. Together with other Senate Committee witnesses Dr. Camila Bustos, Assistant Professor of Law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and Monica Iyer, Clinical Fellow and Senior Lecturing Fellow, Duke University School of Law, as well as key colleagues working in this field, we have submitted a written brief to the Senate Committee for further consideration.

You can access the brief below.

Climate Change & Internal Displacement: Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur

In response to calls for input from Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Climate Refugees provided a submission to help inform the Special Rapporteur’s report to the UN General Assembly on key contributing drivers of displacement, including Climate change and internal displacement, and the following questions:

  1. What issues related to internal displacement and climate change are most serious in terms of protecting human rights, reducing barriers, and fostering conditions for progressively achieving durable solutions that would warrant the Special Rapporteur’s attention and reporting?

  2. What specific groups or populations are particularly or differentially affected by climate change and internal displacement? Is their meaningful and full participation ensured and if so, how? If not, what are the main obstacles?

  3. What actions would you suggest the Special Rapporteur take to address these issues, within the purview of her mandate and complementary to the actions of her predecessors?

  4. What are the main elements of effective preventive strategies for internal displacement driven by climate change, including adaptation measures and planned relocation policies?

Climate Refugees provided inputs derived from its recent regional work in the Horn of Africa, including Kenya and Somalia, as well as developments in legal protections for internally displaced persons as a result of climate change, found in its publication Spotlight.

Read the full submission to the Special Rapporteur below.

The Impact of Climate Change on the Right to Food

Submission to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the Adverse Impact of Climate Change on the Right to Food

In response to OHCHR’s call for inputs, Climate Refugees and Alight (formerly American Refugee Committee) provided this joint submission to help inform the UN Secretary General’s report on the adverse impacts of climate change on the full realization of the right to food, in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 50/9.

The collaboration between our two organizations allowed for distinct but complimentary work to better inform the adverse impacts of climate change on frontline communities. As a humanitarian organization providing assistance to millions of refugees and displaced persons around the globe, Alight undertook OHCHR questions 4 and 5, informed by their country operations in the Horn of Africa and Pakistan, now deeply affected by climate impacts. Climate Refugees addressed OHCHR questions 1 and 6 based on climate displacement research and fieldwork conducted in Kenya, Somalia and Central America, also experiencing devastating drought, floods and disasters.

Read our full submission to OHCHR below

Addressing the Human Rights Implications of Climate Change Displacement

Addressing the Human Rights Implications of Climate Change Displacement

Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Context of Climate Change

“Addressing the human rights implications of climate change displacement including legal protection of people displaced across international borders”

This submission is based on Climate Refugees’ October 2022 in-country research in Kenya and Somalia on climate-induced displacement, migration and human rights losses, and interviews with 110 impacted and displaced persons. Two country reports are forthcoming in early 2023.

This document focuses on the specific questions posed by the UN Special Rapporteur Ian Fry in the call for inputs, paying particular attention to sharing the stories, experiences and hardships displaced communities told Climate Refugees that highlight the precarity and lack of protections populations currently face.

Internal Displacement in the Context of Slow-Onset Adverse Effects of Climate Change

Internal Displacement in the Context of Slow-Onset Adverse Effects of Climate Change

This Submission is in reference to the call for inputs by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Ms Cecilia Jimenez-Damary who will dedicate her upcoming report to the issue of internal displacement linked to slow-onset natural hazards in the context of the adverse effects of climate change. She will build on the reports of her predecessors to further advance a human rights-based approach to the issue of climate change and internal displacement, in line with the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

The Special Rapporteur requests inputs from Member States and inter-governmental entities, UN agencies, civil society actors, humanitarian and development organizations, national human rights institutions, business representatives and other stakeholders, to contribute to the preparation of her report, which will be presented to the General Assembly in October 2020.