300315 Environmental Change and Migration (Ü) (SoSe 2009)

MA – International Track (in English), No.: 300097
Primary and secondary impacts of climate change on social vulnerability and migration patterns
Jeanette Schade

In March 2009 the United Nations Human Rights recognized „that the adverse effects of climate change have a range of direct and indirect implications for the effective enjoyment of human rights and that the effects of climate change will be felt most acutely by those segments of the population that are already vulnerable owing to geography, gender, age, indigenous or minority status and disability“ (Resolution 10/4). The rise of average temperatures, the melting of glaciers and ice sheets and desertification, for instance, will result in considerable land-loss, a condition which led various experts to put forward the plight of so-called climate migrants, who must leave their homes because climate change ostensibly forces them to do so. The most influential projection is that of Norman Myers, who predicted the number of climate refugees to be around 250 million by 2050. Most of these migration dynamics are expected to take place in developing countries due to their geographic exposure to climate change events, the often poor state of their economies, the lack of adaptation capacities, and the large numbers of impoverished people. Now the COP 16 acknowledged the challenge of mass migration by including a paragraph in its Cancun Agreement that requests state parties to undertake “measures to enhance understanding, coordination and cooperation with regard to climate change induced displacement, migration and planned relocation”. Despite the recognition of climate change as a trigger for mass migration (direct impact), however, the possibly adverse impacts of climate change policies on social vulnerability, displacement and human rights violations (indirect impact) are not yet considered comprehensively. Relocation policies to less prone areas, adaptation measures such as dam building, or mitigation measures such as the expansion of bio-fuel crops may also lead to the violation of human rights and have potential to increase vulnerability of the affected population. Moreover, the direct and indirect impacts of climate change may coincide in certain places as it is the case in some areas of Africa. Taking the example of the Tana-Delta in Kenya this seminar reflects on the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on social vulnerability and forced migration and considers available human rights mechanisms to protect affected groups and persons.

Requirements for participation, required level

Participants should have basic knowledge in at least one of the following fields (or related subjects): development studies, migration studies, human rights law.