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Presentation
Climate change, human rights and land displacement: Three sides of the same coin
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, Havard (2009)
  • Amin George Forji, University of Helsinki
Abstract
There is no gainsaying that climate change is one of man's greatest challenges. Over several decades, it has greatly contributed to land displacements and human migration, as many set out of their original habitats for greener pastures. Scientific revelations indicates that millions of people in different parts of the world would loss access to clean water, housing and food, except governments intervene early to combat both the present adverse effects of climate change, as well as lay down more vibrant measures for sustainable development. Increasing rising sea levels, intense storms, floods and droughts mean that migration and human displacement if not counteracted would push even more millions of others to permanently leave their lands. Ever since the Rio conference and Kyoto protocol, it has become clear that climate change is far from being just an ecological issue. Instead, it ultimately affect the very basic rights to life of individuals and failure to respond would consequentially affect the relations between present and future generations. How explicit is this relationship? Is it a correlation or causation? Climate-related human rights are at best imperfect in terms of duties, meaning that reliance on legal solutions is blurred at many ends. There is even a common cliché that climate effects cannot be attributed to a wrongdoer with name and address. Although the deficiency of legal measures must not be interpreted as nullifying rights, it goes without saying however that there is much work to do both in terms of man's activities and regulation, for Kyoto to become an achievable dream. Empowerment of poor communities, which are the most susceptible to land displacement, with greener jobs such as community trees planting/care, as is currently the case across Kenya would seriously reduce the adverse potential impacts of floods, droughts, and imminent land displacements.
Keywords
  • Climate change,
  • Human rights,
  • Land displacement,
  • Migration
Publication Date
Winter February 2, 2009
Citation Information
Amin George Forji. "Climate change, human rights and land displacement: Three sides of the same coin" IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, Havard (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/amingeorgeforji/3/