Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

FEATURE-Climate refugees in political pass-the-parcel
13 Mar 2008 12:04:00 GMT
 Source: Reuters
Noataga, 53, a fisherman from Nukulaelae Island, Tuvalu, says: "In the past, nature was our friend. But now it brings disaster and chaos."
Previous | Next
Noataga, 53, a fisherman from Nukulaelae Island, Tuvalu, says: "In the past, nature was our friend. But now it brings disaster and chaos."
Shuichi Endo/Tuvalu Overview

Background

•  Climate change

MORE >>
By Megan Rowling

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - The islanders of Tuvalu could lose their homes and much of their land in the coming decades. But the world has yet to figure out how it will deal with them, and millions of others, who may be displaced by climate change.

"It's a game of political pass-the-parcel," said Andrew Simms, policy director at British think-tank New Economics Foundation. "No one wants to be left holding the problem of climate refugees."

It's a problem with immediate resonance in the nine tiny Pacific islands that make up Tuvalu.

The group of atolls and reefs is on average barely two metres above sea-level. The United Nations climate panel estimates that oceans will rise by 18-59 cms by 2100.

This, along with environmental degradation, could make large parts of Tuvalu uninhabitable.

Japanese activist and journalist Shuichi Endo has set himself the daunting task of photographing 10,000 Tuvaluans -- nearly the entire population -- in a bid to draw political attention to the threat they face from global warming.

"If industrialised countries like Japan and the United States don't cut their greenhouse gas emissions, the Tuvaluans won't be able to carry on living here," Endo said by telephone from Funafuti island, as children laughed in the background.

"Their culture will be lost, the Tuvaluans will no longer exist, and that would be very sad. Here, people live in tune with the natural environment. They don't emit carbon, and we can learn a lot from them," Endo said.

No one seems to know where the Tuvaluans would go if their islands disappear -- something one study said could happen in just 50 years.

Australia has been approached by the islands' authorities, but has not agreed to let the 12,000 islanders resettle there. New Zealand accepts 75 Tuvaluans a year under a regional immigration quota, but has no explicit policy to take in people from Pacific island countries due to climate change.

Tuvalu's plight does not augur well for millions of others -- from Africa's Sahel region to Bangladesh in south Asia -- who could be forced from their homes by climate change.

"There is a lack of concern about this right now," said Frank Biermann, a professor at Vrije University's Institute for Environmental Studies in Amsterdam.

"A crisis is unlikely to occur before 2030 or 2040," he said. "But if we don't want to see people in camps, violence and other nasty consequences, we need to start planning now."

MIGRATORY PRESSURE

Besides higher sea levels, the U.N. climate panel warns that rising global temperatures -- caused by human activities led by burning fossil fuels -- are likely to bring more droughts, flooding and stronger storms.

Experts predict climate change-related stresses -- including disasters, food and water shortages and conflicts over scarce resources -- could permanently uproot 200 to 250 million people by mid-century.

This week, European Union leaders will be told to prepare for "substantially increased migratory pressure" due to climate change.

A report by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the executive European Commission, to be delivered at this week's summit, says people who already suffer from poor health, unemployment or social exclusion will be hit hardest.

That could amplify or trigger mass migration within and between countries, sparking increased conflicts in transit and destination areas, it warns.

"Some countries that are extremely vulnerable to climate change are already calling for international recognition of such environmentally induced migration," the report says.

LEGAL LIMBO

Unless that demand is met, those fleeing the consequences of climate change will find themselves in a legal limbo.

The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, has not endorsed proposals to bring them under its mandate, and there is even a dispute over what exactly to call people made homeless by the effects of climate change.

"UNHCR is afraid that its capacity to deal with political refugees is already over-stretched, and if you introduce a new element, they simply wouldn't be able to cope," said Simms.

"The system is moving further away from meeting the needs, and the countries that are becoming more restrictive (on migration) are those who are largely responsible for global warming."

Biermann says the refugees should be given legal status through the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change -- the international treaty that is the basis for worldwide efforts to reduce global warming and cope with any temperature increases.

Biermann also recommends creating a new fund to pay for protecting and resettling the refugees.

He argues that long-term strategies like moving people away from high-risk coastal zones could avert a crisis later.

"We don't want people grabbing their suitcases," he said. "They need new land, new jobs and seeds."

Measures that could help vulnerable people adapt to climate change have risen up the agenda at U.N. climate talks. December's meeting in Bali, Indonesia, agreed to launch a U.N. fund to help poor nations cope with the impact of global warming.

"The issue is emerging, even if it's not called climate refugees," Biermann said.

(Reporting by Megan Rowling; Additional reporting by Paul Taylor in Brussels; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Refugees & displacement

•  Climate change

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  ACT: Kenya: Entering the world displaced
ACT - Switzerland

•  Journalism competition to spotlight international development and HIV
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

•  BUDGET A 'MISSED OPPORTUNITY'
Christian Aid - UK

•  Mogadishu's IDPs Receive Shelter
NRC - Norway

•  China: World Vision assists remote mountain villages in Yunnan
World Vision - Asia Pacific

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Visitors recount Tibet violence, tell of troops

•  Afghan mobile phones cut after Taliban attacks

•  Two Afghans killed in suicide attack on NATO convoy

•  Poverty not biggest factor driving Afghan drug crop

•  Suicide blast hits NATO convoy in Afghan southeast

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
Visitors recount Tibet violence, tell of troops (1 minute ago)

Afghan mobile phones cut after Taliban attacks (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
INTERVIEW-New book puts cost of saving planet at $190 bln (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
ACT: Kenya: Entering the world displaced (1 minute ago)

Blogs
Why are tortillas now tied to oil prices? (1 minute ago)

Maps
MAP: Registered Afghans in Pakistan & Iran by province of origin in Afghanistan (as of 31 Jan 2008) (1 minute ago)


Country information

Topics
Refugees & displacement Climate change
Facts & figures
Australia United Kingdom New Zealand

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-14T164816Z_01_NEP21_RTRIDSP_2_NEPAL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NEP21.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-14T164600Z_01_NEP23_RTRIDSP_2_NEPAL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NEP23.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-14T164347Z_01_NEP22_RTRIDSP_2_NEPAL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NEP22.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-14T163650Z_01_NEP19_RTRIDSP_2_NEPAL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NEP19.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-14T163518Z_01_NEP18_RTRIDSP_2_NEPAL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NEP18.htm

A young Buddhist nun at Arya Tara School in Kathmandu tries to adjust her robes as her colleagues from Tibet take part in anti-China demonstrations March 14, 2008. The Tibetan refugees ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Sat Mar 15 12:17:13 2008