Seminar on Climate Forced Migrants: Human Rights Perspective Need New Protocol under UNFCCC 3 December 2011 CoP-17, UNFCCC, December,2011

Environmental refugees ‘promises to rank as one of the foremost human crisis of our times’ (Myers, 1997) 200 million people may be displaced by disruptions of the monsoon system and other rainfall regimes, by droughts of unprecedented severity and duration, and by sea-level rise and coastal flooding (Myers, 2005) by 2050 “one in every forty-five people in the world” will have been displaced by climate change (Brown, 2008) 1 meter SLR would cause -146 million (Anthoff et al,2006) Background

General causes of migration: 1. Underlying causes social factors economic factors 2. Dynamic pressure urbanization employment 3. Unsafe condition Disasters acting as trigger event for migration: 1. River erosion 2. Flood 3. Cyclone and storm 4. Land slide 5. Drought Climate Change adding further pressure: 1. Water scarcity due to salinity ingress 2. Temp rise 3. Erratic rainfall 4. SLR All resulting in more migrants TIME MIGRATION Source: Amin, A, 2011 Migration dynamics in Bangladesh

Climate Change and Migration : Some Critical observations/references-current and future perspectives Case Study-1 (Flood Prone): A study indicates that 28per cent of the sampled households had at least one migrant and 83 percent reported that unemployment due to frequent floods was the main reason for family members to leave. Case Study -2 (Cyclone and Storm Surge): The most recent cyclone, Aila, displaced 76,478 families from Satkhira and Khulna alone Case Study-3 (Coastal Zone): 1 meter Sea-level rise would cause 13 million to 40 million people displaced(Smith, 2007) Source: IOM, 2008

Global Recognition- Recent Development Cancun Agreement 2010 “Measures to enhance understanding, coordination and cooperation with regards to climate change induced displacement, migration and planned relocation, where appropriate at national, regional and international levels” [CP-16, Para-14 (f)] Country Vulnerable Forum Declaration, 2011 “Aware that climate change induced displacement of people is a major concern and their relocation puts enormous pressure on infrastructures and service facilities; and furthermore, large- scale displacement has the potential to transform into security concerns (CVF, 2011)

Policy into action Support to “ Planned Relocation” of the vulnerable communities Social, cultural and economic rehabilitation of the climate forced migrants (Universal Natural Person-please don’t bracket our future!) Legal framework, under the United Nations Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC) Climate Forced Migration How do we address better?

Thank You All