Racism, the environment, and persecution : environmental refugees in Tuvalu

This paper explores the concept of environmental refugees through a literature review and discourse analysis of media coverage on Tuvalu. Tuvalu is predicted to be the first nation lost to sea level rise and its government has been active in attempting to secure a place of asylum for its citizens. Although the term 'environmental refugee' is not an official one, it is widely used. Therefore, a case study is used to illustrate how environmental refugees are constructed in the public eye. Using political economy and political ecology approach, the power dynamics that lead to disproportionate environmental destruction in poor, racialized areas as well as unequal access to migration are questioned. Looking at two major newspapers each from Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand, and one from Tuvalu, the discourse surrounding environmental refugees reveals how the term is constructed and used for varying agendas, from environmentalism to racial exclusion.

Racism, the environment, and persecution : environmental refugees in Tuvalu

This paper explores the concept of environmental refugees through a literature review and discourse analysis of media coverage on Tuvalu. Tuvalu is predicted to be the first nation lost to sea level rise and its government has been active in attempting to secure a place of asylum for its citizens. Although the term 'environmental refugee' is not an official one, it is widely used. Therefore, a case study is used to illustrate how environmental refugees are constructed in the public eye. Using political economy and political ecology approach, the power dynamics that lead to disproportionate environmental destruction in poor, racialized areas as well as unequal access to migration are questioned. Looking at two major newspapers each from Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand, and one from Tuvalu, the discourse surrounding environmental refugees reveals how the term is constructed and used for varying agendas, from environmentalism to racial exclusion.

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK OF POVERTY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

In this paper author studied the nexus between poverty and climate change analytically stating that Nordhaus (2010), Hallegatte (2016) and Jacoby, Rabassa, and Skoufias (2011) models estimated the increase in poverty due to impact of climate change which affect more in disadvantaged people as health shock, food insecurity, unemployment, environmental refugee, and lower income. The paper showed linkages between GHG emission per capita and Gini coefficient, between CO2 emission and productivity and linkages between forest resources, climate change and poverty. The paper also suggested some policy recommendations which were prescribed by international institutions and by the results from the projects. The paper emphasised the speedier implementation of REDD+, LULUCF, forest policies, emission reducing policies and to link MDG with SDG to achieve the Paris Agreement target.

Refugiados ambientais: desafios da bioética global

During the 21st century, global environmental changes have become recurrent, leading many people to move in order to survive. These displacements have been posed like a real threat, because the migration process has a strong impact on human life. This has given rise to a new type of refugee, called environmental refugee, who does not have a clear and well-defined concept on international law and national public policies, neither a widespread acceptance. The absence of consensus on the theorical and practical definitions and the variety of terms that have been used for these people who are forced to move through environmental problems do not protect them simply because of a concept of classification and nomenclature. In view of this, this article aims to analyze the concept and nomenclature of "environmental refugees", providing, through the theoretical approach of global bioethics, some guidelines for the confrontation of this reality that generates vulnerabilities. Keywords: Climate changes. Refugees. Environmental. Migration.

Climate Change and Human Migration: Towards More Humane Interpretation of Refugee

This article seeks to highlight the existing 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (hereinafter referred to as Refugee Convention) and the possibilities of the document to encompass climate-induced migration by modifying, reconstructing and establishing a specific legal regime, considering that the concept of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has been inadequate and incapable to incorporate the ‘newly introduced’ type of migrant. The definition of refugee in the Convention explicitly limits the scope of people who are forced to flee their home into migrants due to warfare and civil disturbance. In fact, there are people who can no longer gain decent livelihood due to environmental and social problems including poverty, drought, soil erosion, desertification, deforestation, floods and other environmental deterioration. However, these people have not been legally accepted as ‘refugee’ in the international arena. The author argues that ‘environmental refugee’ or ‘climate refugee’ is a clear and present issue, as climate change-related disasters are rampant and deteriorating. Therefore, this article will examine the existing and potential role of international law in effectively responding to climate change and its related humanitarian problems in the future. The development of a specific legal document on environmental refugee and the global acceptance of the status of the people not only represent a short-term solution for the affected people, but also introduce a long-term commitment of international community to alleviate poverty and guarantee the fulfilment of basic human rights and social justice for everyone. This article primarily investigates relevant legal documents and discovers some legal and non-legal concepts that are connected to the central topic of this article.

Rethinking the 'debate on environmental refugees': from 'maximilists and minimalists' to 'proponents and critics'

The debate over 'environmental refugees' is prominent in the literature on environmental change and human migration. Protagonists in the debate are 'maximilists' and 'minimalists' depending on their support for the concept. This article argues for the use of 'proponents' and 'critics' of the term. A nuanced critique of the 'proponent account' is offered, showing how the 'environmental refugee' is a particular representation of the relationship between environmental change and migration. There are conceptual problems in 'proponent' models, regarding both migration and development. These pertain to a sedentary bias and a reliance on pushpull, neo-classical models of both migration and the migrant. Some accounts are ahistorical and apolitical. The article advocates a research agenda that focuses on the interactions between environmental and nonenvironmental factors in mobility decisions, and that is historically relevant and contextually specific.Keywords: environment, migration, environmental refugee, discourse, representation

Environmental refugees: Consequences and policies from a western perspective

Using Canada as an example, this paper argues that the phenomenon of the environmental refugee poses a series of important public policy issues for countries of resettlement. Arguing that Canada has an obligation to aid environmental refugees, for reasons of both self-interest and self-sacrifice, the paper then explores those reasons that have, so far, prevented Canada acting on these obligations. These lie, the paper argues, in a conjunction of both present public opinion and government practice. It is therefore in these realms that action to remove impediments to policy change must now occur.

Environmental refugees: a review

SummaryThe purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomenon of ‘environmental refugees’. The emergence of refugees within the framework of international law and policy is examined briefly so as to provide insight into the juridical difficulties environmental refugees can expect to confront. The literature on environmental refugees is steadily growing and the very definition of who qualifies as an environmental refugee has undergone great changes. The evolving nature of the definition and its increasing complexity is reviewed; the result being that environmental refugees can now be placed into several well-defined groupings, each with its own idiosyncratic characteristics. These increasingly distinctive groups of refugees can have as debilitating consequences as other types for receiving societies. The nature of this threat must be looked at fully in order to emphasize the urgent need to arrive at appropriate solutions. Finding solutions to a new crisis is not a simple task as many people fiercely oppose recognition of environmental refugees. Yet, failure to act may prove detrimental to human well-being as the emerging evidence points to a state of affairs that may haunt humankind in the twenty-first century.