IDPs

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 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.

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.