Swimming Against the Tide: Why a Climate Change Displacement Treaty is Not the Answer

McAdam, Jane

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1714714

Cited by 26 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Jane McAdam (2011McAdam ( , 2012 has focused on the international legal dimension of possible relocation, with a particular focus on the use of the term refugee. This is an important dimension of the topic but one that provides context rather than directly informs this work.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Should they stay or should they go? A discourse analysis of factors influencing relocation decisions among the outer islands of Tuvalu and Kiribati

Smith

2013

Journal of New Zealand &Amp; Pacific Studies

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The low-lying atoll states of Tuvalu and Kiribati have gained international attention due to their vulnerability to climate change and associated sea-level rise. They have been referred to as 'sinking islands', with some commentators predicting they could become completely uninhabitable within a generation. This work acknowledges that climate change is having a negative impact on these island communities. However, it would be too simplistic to only focus on this as the key factor in patterns of migration from the outer islands to the urban centres of each state. There are multiple drivers for both internal and international migration, and also for the desire to reside in these communities for as long as they remain habitable. Through fieldwork interviews with residents of Vaitupu, an outer island of Tuvalu and Abaiang, an outer island of Kiribati, this work seeks to understand the key determinants in residents deciding whether or not to relocate. Interviews were also conducted with former members of these communities that are now resident in the respective urban centres of Funafuti and Tarawa. Further context was supplied via interviews with government officials, donor agencies and civil society groups.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Should they stay or should they go? A discourse analysis of factors influencing relocation decisions among the outer islands of Tuvalu and Kiribati

Smith

2013

Journal of New Zealand &Amp; Pacific Studies

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“…For example, a measure like a new ad hoc treaty on climate-change-induced migration may be more likely to focus on a 'protection-like response', which would not necessarily attend to communityfocused human rights concerns, 'especially those relating to cultural integrity, self-determination and statehood'. 139 We argue that the international community of States ought to seek alternative logics, beyond the current reliance on the logic of reciprocity, and integrate such alternatives into their legal relations regarding climate change impacts. As discussed above, there has been only tentative scholarly analysis to date on how selfdetermination might guide responses to the particular circumstances of peoples displaced by climate change.…”

Section: Self-determination and International Legal Approaches To CLImentioning

confidence: 99%

A Universal Human Right to Shape Responses to a Global Problem? The Role of Self‐Determination in Guiding the International Legal Response to Climate Change

Maguire¹,

McGee²

2017

Rev Euro Comp Intl Enviro

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International climate change law is at a critical juncture. Two decades of international treaty negotiations have delivered rising greenhouse gas emissions and minimal adaptation funding. The pattern of negotiations suggests that key States will often only make significant commitments that are aligned with their material interests and reciprocated by their competitors. This ‘logic of reciprocity’ in international climate negotiations has limited ambition such that vulnerable States are facing existential threats from sea level rise, storm surge and salt‐water inundation. We consider whether the international legal system offers any alternative logics that might found a duty on emitters to reduce their emissions in a timelier fashion and respond to climate‐change‐induced forced migration. We therefore focus on the foundational principle of the self‐determination of peoples, a collective human right which has supported movements towards decolonization and the emancipation of oppressed peoples. We argue that self‐determination might offer an alternative logic of duty on high‐emitting States to the plight of populations who find their territory (and potentially their nationhood) under threat from anthropogenic climate change.

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“…We argue that persons who receive the opportunity to go abroad and send remittances, are not the people who are most affected by climate change. The poorest people affected by climate change, who lack the necessary skills for international migration, cannot adopt this 'mobility pathway' to an alternative livelihood (McAdam, 2011). That is why the authorities need to adopt multifarious policy responses, including those promoting internal migration, to manage climate change migration in an effective and sustainable manner.…”

Section: Consideration Of Migration Within Broad Spectrum Of Adaptationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there is no legal and universally accepted definition of climate migration. The term 'refugee' does not seem suitable as it has specific legal meaning in international law under the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Refugee Convention); and it bears the risks of characterising the people affected by climate change as helpless and vulnerable person whereas many of them have resilient capacities (McAdam, 2011). The term 'migrants' and 'migration' are used by the IOM, an influential UN affiliated organisation for migration, in its literature and also these terms are frequently referred to in various documents of international climate change negotiations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change, migration and human rights in Bangladesh: Perspectives on governance

Naser

Swapan

Ahsan

et al. 2019

Asia Pacific Viewpoint

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Bangladesh experiences some of the most severe impacts of climate change, with impacts already evident in the coastal regions. Recent data shows that around 32% of the coastal communities in Bangladesh are affected by climate-induced hazards each year. In 2011, 64% among them were displaced locally and 27% were displaced to other locations in Bangladesh. It requires comprehensive and viable polices and planning to meet the challenges of managing a large number of displaced people. In this context, this paper reviews and investigates the effectiveness of current governance frameworks to address migration of affected communities. It argues that migration can be an effective way to cope with environmental shocks. Finally, it discusses policy imperatives for effective protection of people displaced by climate risks with a special reference to adopting a human rights-based approach in law and policy making for climate-induced migration.

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Swimming Against the Tide: Why a Climate Change Displacement Treaty is Not the Answer

Cited by 26 publications

References 11 publications

Should they stay or should they go? A discourse analysis of factors influencing relocation decisions among the outer islands of Tuvalu and Kiribati

Should they stay or should they go? A discourse analysis of factors influencing relocation decisions among the outer islands of Tuvalu and Kiribati

A Universal Human Right to Shape Responses to a Global Problem? The Role of Self‐Determination in Guiding the International Legal Response to Climate Change

Climate change, migration and human rights in Bangladesh: Perspectives on governance

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