Finally, it would seem that harm must be relatively imminent before international

protection would be forthcoming, which may be especially problematic for creeping

slow-onset processes. Although New Zealand jurisprudence 1 requires only that there is
‘sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds for believing the appellant would be
in danger’, similar to the ‘well-founded fear’ test in refugee law, a risk to life from sea-
level rise and natural disasters has thus far been found to fall ‘well short of the threshold
required to establish substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of
arbitrary deprivation of life’, and ‘remains firmly in the realm of conjecture or surmise’. 2

States have an obligation to respect, protect, fulfil and promote all human rights
for all persons without discrimination. Failure to take affirmative measures to prevent
human rights harms caused by climate change, including foreseeable long-term harms,
breaches this obligation. The Fifth Report of the IPCC confirms that climate change is
caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Among other impacts,
climate change negatively affects people’s rights to health, housing, water and food.
These negative impacts will increase exponentially according to the degree of climate
change that ultimately takes place and will disproportionately affect individuals, groups,
and peoples in vulnerable situations including women, children, older persons,
indigenous peoples, minorities, migrants, rural workers, persons with disabilities and the
poor. Therefore, States must act to limit anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases
including through regulatory measures, in order to prevent to the greatest extent
possible the current and future negative human rights impacts of climate change. 3

Human rights are universal legal guarantees that protect individuals, groups and
peoples against actions and omissions that interfere with their fundamental freedoms
and entitlements. Human rights law obliges governments (principally) and other duty-
bearers to respect, promote, protect and fulfill all human rights. Human rights are
universal and are based on the inherent dignity and equal worth of all human beings.
They are equal, indivisible, interrelated and interdependent, and cannot be waived or
taken away. Furthermore, human rights are legally protected, and impose obligations in
relation to actions and omissions, particularly of States and State actors. 4

1
AF (Kiribati) [2013] NZIPT 800413 , New Zealand: Immigration and Protection Tribunal, 25 June 2013, available at:
https://www.refworld.org/cases,NZ_IPT,5dad6b754.html [accessed 27 February 2020]
2
McAdam, Jane, From the Nansen Initiative to the Platform on Disaster Displacement: Shaping International
Approaches to Climate Change, Disasters and Displacement (August 1, 2016). University of New South Wales Law
Journal, Vol. 39, No. 4, 2016; UNSW Law Research Paper No. 17-4. Available at SSRN:
https://ssrn.com/abstract=2901910 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2901910
3
Understanding Human Rights and Climate Change, Submission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
4
Understanding Human Rights and Climate Change, Submission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
 It is now beyond dispute that climate change caused by human activity has
negative impacts on the full enjoyment of human rights. Climate change has profound
impacts on a wide variety of human rights, including the rights to life, self-determination,
development, food, health, water, and sanitation and housing. The human rights
framework also requires that global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change
should be guided by relevant human rights norms and principles including the rights to
participation and information, transparency, accountability, equity and non-
discrimination. Simply put, climate change is a human rights problem and the human
rights framework must be part of the solution. 5

Despite the clear human rights implications of failure to act to prevent climate
change, the international community has not taken adequate preventive action. In fact,
some of the climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts that have been employed
to date have had counterproductive human rights impacts, particularly on the most
marginalized. Taken as a whole, existing climate change mitigation and adaptation
efforts have fallen far short of the level of ambition necessary to prevent and/or remedy
the negative human rights impacts of climate change in fulfillment of the obligations of
States and other duty-bearers.6

States are obligated to respect, protect, promote and fulfill all human rights for all
people. This includes an affirmative obligation to prevent foreseeable harms including
those caused by climate change. The UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),
and the UN Declaration on the Right to Development all make clear that State human
rights obligations require both individual action and international cooperation. According
to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone is entitled to a social and
international order in which the rights and freedoms therein can be fully realized and
everyone has duties to the community.7

5
Understanding Human Rights and Climate Change, Submission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
6
Understanding Human Rights and Climate Change, Submission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
7
Understanding Human Rights and Climate Change, Submission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The impacts could be severe in areas where infrastructures are not designed to fully
cope with the effects of climate change. Thus, these impacts have potential implications
for where we locate and how we build our new infrastructures, as well as make existing
infrastructure robust or resilient to the effects of climate change. 8
Infrastructure in the country has not kept pace with the requirements of a growing
economy, and the increase in population and urbanization. The Philippines has not
provided infrastructure that is sufficient in quantity and quality to meet global economic
challenges as well as poverty reduction goals under such international commitments as
the Millennium Development Goals. This will be further exacerbated by climate change
and the need for urgent adaptation actions is increasing by the day. 9
Key elements of this proposal is the creation of a new legal instrument that builds on the
responsibility of the government and is specifically tailored for the needs of climate
displaced persons in the Philippines, which will include a separate funding mechanism,
a climate displacement protection and resettlement fund.

The sensitivity of the country’s agricultural sector to the impacts of climate change
cannot be overstated. The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather
events affecting the country continue to devastate and threaten the country’s food and
water resources. Addressing these vulnerabilities in both the short and long-term
requires building the resilience of our food production systems through the
mainstreaming of sustainable agriculture and aquaculture and related developments in
the sector.10

The global climate is now changing faster than at any point in human civilization, and
one of its main impacts on human health is increasing morbidity and mortality rates
especially due to vector-borne diseases. Climate change profoundly impacts
communicable index diseases as its vectors adapt, resulting in greater vulnerability of
the marginalized sectors. The health sector must formulate proper climate-sensitive
interventions in ensuring a healthy citizenry, and a disease-resilient community. 11
There is a clear and problematic disconnect between intergovernmental activity
addressing the issues of environmental displacement and the policy and normative
protection gaps and what is happening at national levels. There is a significant
challenge in creating synergy between these two levels. 12

8
Climate Change Commission “National Framework Strategy on Climate Change 2010-2022” page 31
9
Climate Change Commission “National Framework Strategy on Climate Change 2010-2022” page 31
10
Climate Change Commission “National Framework Strategy on Climate Change 2010-2022” page 30
11
Climate Change Commission “National Framework Strategy on Climate Change 2010-2022” page 31
12
Roger Zetter (2011), “Protecting environmentally displaced people: Developing the capacity of legal and
normative frameworks” Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford Department of International Development, University of
Oxford
Philippine Ambassador to Bangladesh Vicente Bandillo stated that there are six areas
for action in relation to migration as an effect of climate change: (1) disaster risk
reduction and climate change adaptation, (2) planned relocation, (3) internal
displacement, (4) cross-border displacement, (5) protection of migrants abroad in times
of disasters, and (6) data collection and scientific knowledge on human mobility in the
context of disasters. 13

In instances of forced displacement, the choice of people is taken away from

them, and more often than not, they have no other option available. Thus, it is

imperative that their human rights be protected through comprehensive policy

14
formulations at a national and regional level.

International law maintains that countries must respect the human rights of

people within their territories. On top of any applicable domestic laws, countries will face

obligations under international human rights law for the way they treat climate-affected

people within their jurisdictions.15 Climate change is likely to affect human rights such as

the right to life, the right to food, and the right to water, among others.

Responses to climate-related displacement need to be guided by the

fundamental principles of humanity, human dignity, human rights and international

cooperation. They need further to be guided by consent, empowerment, participation,

16
and partnership and to reflect age, gender, and diversity aspects.

13
The Nansen Initiative “Climate Change, Disasters and Human Mobility in South Asia and the Indian Ocean:
Outcome Report” 3-5 April 2015,
14
Cosmin Corendea and Tanvi Mani, “Deriving a legal framework to address climate change induced migration in
the Pacific”,
15
Rafael Leal-Arcas, “Climate migrants: Legal Options” International Conference on Emerging Economies –
Prospects and Challenges (ICEE-2012)
16
Summary of Deliberations on Climate Change and Displacement, United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.
 Any decisions to relocate individuals or communities internally need to ensure

the effective participation of the displaced. Decisions about where, when and how to

relocate communities need to be sensitive to cultural and ethnic identities and

boundaries to avoid possible tension and conflict. They also need to safeguard

livelihoods, traditions, access to land, and respect for land rights and inheritance. The

interests of persons with particular vulnerabilities (e.g. the elderly, indigenous people,

ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities) need to be recognized at all stages in

any relocation process. Participation of all persons must be based on principles of

equality, respect and diversity. Moreover, leadership and decision-making roles for

women need to be ensured.17

Key elements of this proposal is the creation of a new legal instrument that builds on the

responsibility of the government and is specifically tailored for the needs of climate

displaced persons in the Philippines, which will include a separate funding mechanism,

a climate displacement protection and resettlement fund.

To reduce migration compelled by worsening environmental conditions, and to

strengthen the resilience of at-risk communities, governments should adopt policies and

commit to financing to social protection, livelihoods development, basic urban

infrastructure development, and disaster risk management. 18

17
Summary on Deliberations on Climate Change and Displacement, United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.
18
“Addressing Climate Change Migration in Asia & the Pacific 2012” (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6
April 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2014.