Climate Change Refugees Need Recognition: It is Time to Act!
Climate Change Refugees Need Recognition: It is Time to Act!
The Issue
While we keep driving our cars, eating our daily amount of meat and having 24/7 access to electricity, third world countries such as Kiribati are facing the negative outcomes of our actions. 97% of climate scientists agree on global warming, therefore there is no denying that something needs to be done today. So we need your help!
Kiribati, a group of islands in the Pacific, has a population of over 118 000 inhabitants. These people will soon be forced to migrate due to the rising sea level, and even at this moment, they are struggling to live a normal life. Their houses are being damaged by storms, the land is disappearing and drinking water is being contaminated. Within a few years’ time, the country will be uninhabitable. But the problem these people are facing is that there is no effective option for them to migrate.
There are no international agreements regarding the term ‘climate change refugee’. Although difficult to categorise, climate refugees deserve recognition just as another refugee would. Even if the Kiribati people wanted to move, it would be difficult as it is hard to get a permit to migrate to Australia or New Zealand. Fortunately, New Zealand does invite 75 people from Kiribati a year to apply for residence, with the government considering to increase this to 100 people under the new ‘humanitarian’ visa category. However, at this rate, it would take over 1500 years for the whole country to migrate. We simply do not have that amount of time, thus we need to act now.
Our mission is to raise global awareness about this urging and complex problem. By signing our petition you will be helping us call for urgent action on the term ‘climate refugee’ and provide a voice for the voiceless.
Moreover, we are happy to provide you with some interesting documents at the end of this text that contain further information regarding the issue.
Supplement documents:
Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration: https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/sites/default/files/180713_agreed_outcome_global_compact_for_migration.pdf
Kiribati - relocation and adaptation: https://www.fmreview.org/sites/fmr/files/FMRdownloads/en/climatechange/loughry-mcadam.pdf
Escaping a Rising Tide: Sea Level Rise and Migration in Kiribati: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/app5.7
The Issue
While we keep driving our cars, eating our daily amount of meat and having 24/7 access to electricity, third world countries such as Kiribati are facing the negative outcomes of our actions. 97% of climate scientists agree on global warming, therefore there is no denying that something needs to be done today. So we need your help!
Kiribati, a group of islands in the Pacific, has a population of over 118 000 inhabitants. These people will soon be forced to migrate due to the rising sea level, and even at this moment, they are struggling to live a normal life. Their houses are being damaged by storms, the land is disappearing and drinking water is being contaminated. Within a few years’ time, the country will be uninhabitable. But the problem these people are facing is that there is no effective option for them to migrate.
There are no international agreements regarding the term ‘climate change refugee’. Although difficult to categorise, climate refugees deserve recognition just as another refugee would. Even if the Kiribati people wanted to move, it would be difficult as it is hard to get a permit to migrate to Australia or New Zealand. Fortunately, New Zealand does invite 75 people from Kiribati a year to apply for residence, with the government considering to increase this to 100 people under the new ‘humanitarian’ visa category. However, at this rate, it would take over 1500 years for the whole country to migrate. We simply do not have that amount of time, thus we need to act now.
Our mission is to raise global awareness about this urging and complex problem. By signing our petition you will be helping us call for urgent action on the term ‘climate refugee’ and provide a voice for the voiceless.
Moreover, we are happy to provide you with some interesting documents at the end of this text that contain further information regarding the issue.
Supplement documents:
Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration: https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/sites/default/files/180713_agreed_outcome_global_compact_for_migration.pdf
Kiribati - relocation and adaptation: https://www.fmreview.org/sites/fmr/files/FMRdownloads/en/climatechange/loughry-mcadam.pdf
Escaping a Rising Tide: Sea Level Rise and Migration in Kiribati: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/app5.7
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Petition created on 23 October 2018