European Institute for Human Rights

Tag: Adaptation

  • Climate Change and the Public Health Imperative for Supporting Migration as Adaptation

    Climate Change and the Public Health Imperative for Supporting Migration as Adaptation

    As human mobility has reached unprecedented levels in an era of accelerating global climate change, it is acknowledged that many cases of human migration in the context of climate change are forced or involuntary, particularly where adaptation measures have failed to achieve sufficient resiliency of communities against disasters.

    There are also many cases where migration is, itself, a voluntary adaptive measure to secure otherwise unattainable physical safety and life-sustaining resources.

    But, although climate migration is often approached as a human rights issue, it is noted that the public health community has been less unified and vocal on the topic.

    This paper, developed by the World Federation of Public Health Associations’ Environmental Health Working Group, seeks to address this gap by analyzing adaptive climate migration through a public health lens.

    The authors argue that creating an enabling environment for adaptive climate migration is not only a human rights imperative but also a public health necessity. They support this claim by showing how such environments can strengthen core public health services and functions, as outlined in the Global Charter for the Public’s Health.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmh.2023.100174

    Reference

    Marcus, H., Hanna, L., Tait, P., Stone, S., Wannous, C., & A product of the World Federation of Public Health Associations Environmental Health Working Group (2023). Climate change and the public health imperative for supporting migration as adaptation. Journal of migration and health, 7, 100174

  • Migration and Dignity – Relocation and Adaptation in the Face of Climate Change Displacement in the Pacific – A Human Rights Perspective

    Migration and Dignity – Relocation and Adaptation in the Face of Climate Change Displacement in the Pacific – A Human Rights Perspective

    In this study, the threat of climate-induced displacement facing millions of people is looked into, with particular attention to Small Island States in the Pacific. Focusing on the case of Kiribati, it analyzes the shift from the government’s former Migration With Dignity (MWD) relocation strategy to a new approach centered on economic development, climate adaptation, and mitigation.

    Using a human rights perspective, it seeks to explore and contrast the potential and limitations of cross-border relocation with the current adaptation strategy, illustrated by an urban and land development project in Temaiku Bight on South Tarawa.

    It further considers alternative pathways, including expanded labor migration quotas and humanitarian visas.

    The study demonstrates that neither adaptation nor relocation alone offers a sufficient solution. Instead, a combination of strategies is needed to protect dignity and rights. It concludes by outlining key policy issues that must be addressed to ensure meaningful, rights-based migration options for the people of Kiribati in the years ahead.

    The author also argues that while adaptation and economic growth may take some time and regional cross-border relocations give no precedent for best practice, the best solution is a combination of options which cannot exist in isolation, summing up the numerous policy issues which must be addressed for there to be any hope of migration and dignity for the people of Kiribati in the years to come.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2021.1889515

    Reference

    Kupferberg, J. S. (2021). Migration and dignity – relocation and adaptation in the face of climate change displacement in the Pacific – a human rights perspective. The International Journal of Human Rights, 25(10), 1793–1818