This question has been at the forefront of my mind since the earthquake ravaged Haiti on January 12. Simply having the chance to leave Haiti has lifted more Haitians out of extreme poverty than all of the billions of dollars in aid, all of the foreign investment, and all of the trade preferences that Haiti has received from the United States during the past thirty years. (The research underlying that statement can be found in this CGD paper. I further describe the dynamic impact of mobility, particularly for Haitians, in these Washington Post and Foreign Policy articles.) It doesn’t make sense to me that allowing some flexibility in human mobility—one of the most effective, lowest-cost ways to help Haitians—has been playing such a tiny role in international efforts to help Haitians.

While the U.S. has worked expeditiously to assist Haiti’s people and government to rebuild and recover from this catastrophe, we lack a systematic mechanism for leveraging human mobility—one of the most powerful ways that people in poor countries cope with and overcome shocks. Because natural disaster victims are not fleeing group-based violent persecution, they do not qualify as refugees under international law. Thus, I contend that the U.S. and other rich countries must either create a new category of entrants or find some means of handling a finite number of natural disaster victims through existing policy or administrative channels.

Note well: Creating a category of entry does not mean allowing unlimited numbers. A category of entry now exists for refugees fleeing violent persecution, for example, but this doesn’t mean that anyone fleeing violent persecution can come. Each year the U.S. and other rich-country governments decide how many people to admit in that category in accordance with national goals and ability to help.

I was thrilled by the quality of conversation among the roundtable participants, which included representatives from the refugee advocacy community and other research institutes. The group discussed the complexities of existing migration and refugee policies, while raising important questions about the purpose and implementation of a new program. Specifically:

• What criteria should determine what individuals and/or countries are eligible?
• Should victims of natural disasters be eligible temporary refuge or should they be offered a path to long-term residency or citizenship?
• Would such a program require legislative action or are there existing tools that could be used to accomplish similar goals through administrative channels? (The United States previously brought hundreds of thousands of Indochinese, Cuban, and Kosovo refugees, among others, into the country when it was deemed it to be in the interests of national security.)
• How do we differentiate between forced and voluntary migration following a natural disaster?

CGD plans to commission new research to explore these questions and others, as well as current systems and new possibilities. Building on the findings of this paper, I plan to launch a new CGD initiative to move forward toward a viable policy solution.

Source: Center for Global Development

Now, some countries have begun turning this displacement into a positive learning experience by providing such migrants with temporary work permits to help them earn an income and acquire skills, making them more resilient when they return home.

“Extending work visas or granting temporary visas to people from countries … hit by natural disasters is often used in … Europe and North America,” said Koko Warner, head of the Environmental Migration, Social Vulnerability and Adaptation Section at the UN University, and such initiatives were part of a “wider trend in managing the impacts of natural hazards and migration”.

The US Immigration and Nationality Act allows Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to foreign nationals already in the US because of an environmental disaster, provided their country is unable to handle their return.

There are no international laws protecting people forced to move across borders by more intense natural disasters as a result of climate change, but Walter Kälin, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, cited the Finnish Aliens Act, which also “provides temporary protection (up to three years) in situations of mass displacement as a result of an environmental disaster.”

He suggested that in the absence of such protection, initiatives like the TPS allowed by US could provide “inspiration” to countries to draw up laws offering temporary respite to people forced to move because of climate change.

Colombia shows the way

Colombia has come up with an interesting alternative: in 2006, when the Galeras volcano in southwest Colombia erupted, the government set up a programme allowing several thousand affected people temporary migration to Spain, where they earned an income, mostly through agricultural work, for a period of six months, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) noted in its recent annual report.

“Since then the programme has been expanded to include people in rural communities, where crops and land are vulnerable to floods and other natural disasters,” UNFPA said. The programme is supported by the European Union.

Heavy rains, floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Colombia affected 1.5 million people in 2007, and at least 700,000 more in 2008, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In Spain the Colombians acquired skills to help them diversify their income when they returned home, to “increase their resilience to environmental challenges, and offers them an alternative to permanent relocation,” UNFPA commented. The six-month placement period also allowed enough time for the land affected by disaster in Colombia to recover.

Warner said such initiatives were “an important source of post-disaster rehabilitation”, while UNFPA pointed out that “Mobility may therefore contribute to the adaptation of people affected by environmental change; conversely, immobility may increase people’s vulnerability to environmental pressures.”

Source: IRIN

The ongoing theme of this document is the need to encourage more research and reflection on the humanitarian and displacement challenges that climate change will generate. It opens with a quote from António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees:

“Although there is a growing awareness of the perils of climate change, its likely impact on human displacement and mobility has received too little attention.”

The paper makes a huge advances in the recognition of environmental migrants from the October 2008 version, stating:

“While environmental factors can contribute to prompting cross-border movements, they are not grounds, in and of themselves, for the grant of refugee status under international refugee law. However, UNHCR does recognise that there are indeed certain groups of migrants, currently falling outside of the scope of international protection, who are in need of humanitarian and/or other forms of assistance.”

The paper is divided into four sections and examines the following:

1) foreseeable displacement scenarios,
2) their implications for UNHCR,
3) terminology and the 1951 Refugee Convention,
4) suggestions for the way forward.

According to the paper, UNHCR admits that it “might take some time to reach an agreement on the appropriate way forward” and “more work is needed to analyze the likely human displacement scenarios which climate change will cause, and to identify and fill any legal and operational gaps”. In the meantime, UNHCR “encourages the international community to adopt approaches based on respect for human rights and international cooperation”. UNHCR also believes that “the need for advocacy on climate change issues will remain in various fora into 2010 and beyond”.

Click here to access the policy paper »

Photo credit: Cameron Feast/Oxfam

(Oxfam Australia) July 27, 2009 – An Oxfam Australia report published today highlights the urgent need for next week’s Pacific Islands Forum in Cairns to address the dramatic effects of climate change within the region.

The Future is Here: Climate Change in the Pacific finds that Pacific Islanders are already feeling the effects of climate change and need greater support now. People are facing increasing food and water shortages, losing land and being forced from their homes, dealing with rising cases of malaria, and coping with more frequent flooding and storm surges.

The report argues that unless wealthy, developed countries like Australia take urgent action to curb emissions, some island nations face the very real threat of becoming uninhabitable.

Pacific leaders will raise the issue of climate change with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at the Pacific Islands Forum from 4 – 7 August.

Oxfam Australia Executive Director Andrew Hewett said with only months to go until the crucial UN negotiations in Copenhagen in December, it was clear Australia needed to show Pacific leaders it was willing to do its fair share to address one of the most pressing challenges in the region.

“People are already leaving their homes because of climate change, with projections that 75 million people in the Asia-Pacific region will be forced to relocate by 2050 if climate change continues unabated. Not all will have the option of relocating within their own country, so it’s vital that the Australian Government starts working with Pacific governments to plan for this now,” Mr Hewett said.

The report details how Pacific Islanders are already adapting to their changing climate. Fijians, for example, are taking steps to ‘climate-proof’ their villages by trialling salt-resistant varieties of staple foods, planting mangroves and native grasses to halt coastal erosion, protecting fresh water wells from saltwater intrusion and relocating homes and community buildings away from vulnerable coastlines.

Elsewhere, the Malaita provincial government in the Solomon Islands is looking for land to resettle people from low-lying outer atolls, while people living in the outer atolls of the Federated States of Micronesia are facing food and water shortages and moving to higher ground.

The report argues that the fairest and most cost-effective way of dealing with climate change is to ensure the most extreme impacts are avoided altogether, as Australia would be called on to respond to more emergencies in the region. As the wealthiest country in the region and the highest per capita polluter, Australia must prevent further climate damage to the Pacific by urgently adopting higher targets – reducing emissions by at least 40 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 – and urging other developed countries to do the same.

The Government’s commitment of $150 million to help Pacific Islanders adapt to climate change needs to be at least doubled to meet the most urgent adaptation needs in the Pacific. This must be in addition to Australia’s existing aid commitments so that crucial poverty alleviation efforts are not compromised.

Source: Oxfam Australia

Related Links:
“The Future is Here: Climate Change in the Pacific” – Oxfam Australia

The UN Dispatch says: Build a wall made out of sand and bacteria!

Build a giant wall. 6,000 kilometers long. Made out of sand. Stuck together with bacteria. No, seriously.

“The threat is desertification. My response is a sandstone wall made from solidified sand,” said Mr Larsson, who describes himself as a dune architect.

The sand would be stabilised by flooding it with bacteria that can set it like concrete in a matter of hours.

Take his word for it; he’s a dune architect. And desertification is not something to mess around with. But with a gigantic, bacteria-reinforced dune wall, buttressing a “Great Green Belt” of trees, unchecked it will not be. As long as we can figure out minor details like politics, funding, and where to obtain “giant bacteria-filled balloons.”

If this seems similar to ad hoc geo-engineering schemes of righting the climate, well, it does to me, too.  Except that I’m more comfortable building walls to stop desertification than, say, attaching tubes to giant zeppelins that pump the air full of sulfur dioxide to block the sun and cool the planet.

Source: UN Dispatch

“New Zealand should take a leadership role on protecting our Pacific neighbours from the disproportionate burden of climate change they bear. We have a regional responsibility to support endangered, low-lying islands by committing to responsible emissions targets.”

Dr Graham – and his colleague Keith Locke – asked Mr Key questions today in the House about his recent trip around the Pacific and the threat climate change poses to the very survival of several countries in the region.

The Green MPs questioned Mr Key on whether island leaders had voiced concerns over climate change, how New Zealand would respond, and what steps would be outlined at the Pacific Island Forum leaders meeting next month.

Dr Graham said Mr Key’s replies were disappointing, and urged the Prime Minister to take a more proactive role on the Pacific’s impending ecological crisis.

“Small islands bear a disproportionate burden from climate change. Rising seawaters threaten the very existence of nations such as Tuvalu and Kiribati.

“Pacific nations are taking action themselves. Island leaders – in their first-ever United Nations resolution – have asked for a report on the security implications of climate change.

“And many island nations have already set themselves ambitious targets for converting to renewable energy sources. I acknowledge the work the Government is endeavouring to do in this area. But a New Zealand commitment on stronger emissions reductions would support our island neighbours and send a very strong signal that we are serious about our regional leadership.

“And a more definitive stance on welcoming stateless persons –climate change refugees – to New Zealand would show we are serious about protecting our region from the ravages of this impending crisis.”

Source: Green Party of NZ

Photo credit: DFID

(DFID) July 13, 2009 – The UK is today launching a major action plan to protect 15 million of the world’s poorest people from the devastating impact of climate change in some of most high-risk flood areas on the planet.

A fifth of Bangladesh – an area almost twice the size of London – could disappear if seas levels rise by one metre. This would destroy crops and livestock, spread disease and leave 30 million people homeless.

Experts predict that devastating natural disasters seen in the last three years such Cyclone Sidr and Tropical Storm Aila – which saw millions lose their homes and thousands killed – will become more frequent in the future.

The UK’s country plan will protect people’s lives and livelihoods against more frequent natural disasters and provide practical support to help them adapt for the impact of climate change. The £75m plan will include:

- Raised housing. Homes in high-risk areas will be raised off the ground to protect millions of families from flash floods, ensuring their property is not simply washed away.

- ‘Flood-friendly’ crops. New crops that are resilient to floods and changes in climate will be introduced to help farmers produce enough food to feed themselves and their families in the toughest circumstances.

- National early warning system. State of the art cyclone forecasting will be set up to ensure people have time to prepare before disasters strike, with alerts sent to villages and towns across the country.

- Infrastructure investment. Renovation of embankments and roads damaged by floods to ensure key transport routes are kept open to allow life-saving supplies to reach even the most remote areas.

- Storm shelters. Thousands of multi-purpose ‘survival’ shelters will be built and equipped to offer men, women and children somewhere to go when cyclones hit.

- Disaster management programme. International experts will be sent to work with the Bangladeshi Government to train and mentor a national disaster team and establish a country-wide emergency plan.

The UK has already committed £50 million to support the ‘Chars Livelihood Programme’, which will help one million people who live on river islands in the Jamuna River raise their homes above the flood level. Our work has already helped more than 300,000 raise their homes and has provided livestock, seeds and other items to almost 50,000 families in this low-lying, flood-prone area.

Mike Foster, International Development Minister said:

“People in villages across Bangladesh are living on the frontline of climate change, with floods and cyclones increasingly a threat to every day life.

“That is why we must take action to deal with what is a very real and immediate danger to the survival of millions men, women and children.

“Many of these people are living in extreme poverty and cannot afford even the most basic of protection. In just a minute, their homes, crops and belongings could simply be washed away, driving them further into poverty.

“Our plan will help break this devastating cycle and prepare people to survive future disasters. We want to give people the tools and skills they need to grow their way out of poverty and build a sustainable future.”

The action on climate change is part of a new Bangladeshi plan that sets out the Department for International Development strategy to build a more stable and prosperous country and bring more than 6 million people out of extreme poverty.

Other key areas in the plan include:

- Increase employment opportunities and incomes for the poorest by giving 70,000 men and women through vocational and English language training;

- Improve conditions for garment and textile employees by working with six major multinational companies to improve conditions and ensure their suppliers have to set decent working and environmental practices;

- Give 4 million children access to five years of primary education. We will also provide £2 million for education programmes to address a funding shortfall that would have resulted in 100,000 pre-primary and primary age children not going to school this year;

- Make sure 4 million pregnant women are looked after by trained midwives. Improve neonatal and maternal health. Our Urban Primary Health Care Programme has already given 400,000 urban poor women access to antenatal care and more than 72,000 deliveries to be conducted safely, with skilled birth attendants;

- Help the Government register 5 million more taxpayers to build robust Government revenues to pay for basic services like health and education.

Source: DFID

The report also shows that, “In the next few decades, increasing and shifting populations and climate change will exacerbate existing problems such as conflict, food shortages, and land dispossession”. This will lead to a significant growth in the numbers of those forced to leave their homes in search of safer areas.

It calls on the international community to act swiftly to re-engineer the way it responds to, prepares for, and prevents disasters to save lives. Oxfam stresses that the “humanitarian challenge of the twenty-first century demands a step-change in the quantity and nature of humanitarian response. Whether or not there is sufficient will to do this will be one of the defining features of our age – and will dictate whether millions live or die”.

Click here to access the full report »