Indigenous Peoples

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Indigenous Guna People of Panama to be Relocated Due to Climate Change

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Indigenous Guna People of Panama to be Relocated Due to Climate Change

Off Panama’s Caribbean coast lies the tiny island of Gardí Sugdub, one of the 50 islands home to the Indigenous Guna people for over 300 years. Now, due to climate change-driven rising sea levels, that home is in severe danger. In recent years, the tiny 1200-foot-long and 450-foot-wide island has experienced severe flooding that has destabilized everyday activities for the community. The ocean is central to the Guna people’s way of life and supports the island's main income streams: fishing and tourism. These have been significantly affected by worsening tidal floods, storms, and strong winds. 

UN Decision on Torres Strait Islanders a Major Win for Indigenous Peoples and Climate Justice

UN Decision on Torres Strait Islanders a Major Win for Indigenous Peoples and Climate Justice

The UN Human Rights Committee has found that Australia violated the rights of Torres Strait Islanders by failing to adequately protect them from the impacts of climate change, in a major decision with implications for climate justice and the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the face of climate change, as reported by Kristen Lyons in the Law Society of New South Wales Journal. The Committee concluded that Australia’s insufficient climate action constituted a violation of the Islanders rights to enjoy their culture and “be free from arbitrary interferences with their private life, family, and home,” as the UN High Commissioner for Rights press release states.

Advocates Push for Canada to Protect Climate Migrants

Advocates Push for Canada to Protect Climate Migrants

A group of Canadian lawyers have been advocating for small advances in Canadian immigration policy to accommodate the realities of climate impacts on human mobility. Like most countries, Canada does not recognize climate migrants under its current immigration law, but the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers points to past disasters – like the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and 2004 South East Asian tsunami - as example of times the government offered special directives to persons seeking refuge.

Climate Change Will Worsen Existing Inequities of Indigenous in Canada

Climate Change Will Worsen Existing Inequities of Indigenous in Canada

One major area of concern is the impact of climate change on the existing health inequities experienced by these communities. A warming climate will worsen food and water security, air quality, personal safety, and mental well-being, and access to livelihood options, among others. The report importantly highlights that health impacts are not experienced evenly within and between Indigenous communities, demonstrating that solutions must respect “cultures, geography, local contexts, and the unique needs of these communities.”

Weekend Feature: Who is Accountable When Climate Change Displaces Indigenous People?

Weekend Feature: Who is Accountable When Climate Change Displaces Indigenous People?

Climate change will be the third iteration of displacement inflicted on Indigenous communities by the United States, all of which threaten the enjoyment of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Following Hurricane Devastation in Central America, Experts Weigh in on Migration & US Protection

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies report over 4.3 million Central Americans - including 3 million Hondurans - have been impacted by Hurricane Eta alone, which struck Nicaragua on November 3rd. Those numbers rose when Hurricane Iota struck two weeks later, again in Nicaragua on November 16th.

The Red Cross America’s division described conditions as a "triple emergency” in Honduras and Guatemala of: hurricane Eta, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the years-long drought that has deeply impacted agriculture, making even subsistence agriculture, impossible across large sections of the region. The Red Cross says it is now readying for internal displacement, as well as migration across borders, as a result.