Human Rights Implications of Climate Change Induced Displacement

Abstract

Climate change and migration are two cross-cutting issues demanding immediate and appropriate responses from duty-bearers. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human-induced climate change will transform the ecological balance of our planet and lead to calamitous consequences for the human rights of millions of people all over the world. The threat of climate change encompasses the livelihoods of peoples in distant corners of the world contributing to the rise of sea levels, altered patterns of desertification, and to the increase in number and intensity of disastrous environmental events. Climate change induced droughts, flooding, wildfires, extreme weather, soil erosion, desertification, deforestation and natural disasters are likely to further intensify pre-existing stresses in vulnerable regions in the world. Consequently, there are apprehensions of problems like food insecurity, scarcity of water, reduced agricultural production, population pressures, unequal access to resources, poverty, break-out of epidemics and spreading of diseases. Each and all of these factors and risks can lead to displacement and migration on an unprecedented scale. In turn, such climate-induced movements can also carry a wide range of implications for the enjoyment of human rights. This article is available in Bond Law Review: http://epublications.bond.edu.au/blr/vol21/iss3/4 139 HUMAN RIGHTS IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE INDUCED DISPLACEMENT