As the climate crisis deepens, low-lying countries are witnessing significant amounts of their territory being rendered uninhabitable, with some facing the prospect of complete inundation from rising sea level. For many Small Island Developing States, this represents a catastrophic threat to their political, social, economic and cultural fabric and the Pacific Atoll countries are at the frontline of this global climate emergency.
The Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, also known as Escazú Agreement, was adopted on March 4, 2018 in Escazú, Costa Rica. This treaty strengthens the link between human rights and environmental defense by posing obligations on the States parties, regarding the protection of environmental human rights defenders. Thus, the Escazú Agreement promotes a four-pillar model of environmental democracy.
On January 9, 2023, Chile and Colombia signed a joint advisory opinion request to be presented before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), aiming to clarify the scope of the state obligations for responding to the climate emergency under the frame of international human rights law. The request acknowledged the human rights effects of the climate emergency, especially highlighting the vulnerability of communities and ecosystems in Latin America. In this line, Colombia and Chile emphasized the need for regional standards to accelerate action to confront climate change.
The Groundswell Report is a comprehensive study conducted by the Climate Change Group of the World Bank. The first part of this report was published in 2018, and the second part, titled 'Groundswell: Acting on Internal Climate Migration', was unveiled in September 2021. The report's findings indicate that if immediate and effective climate and development action plans aren't put into place, it's estimated that over 216 million individuals across six global regions may have to migrate within their own countries by the year 2050.
The Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees (GCF) responds to the unmet needs of cities as they support migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people in the face of pressing challenges, from global pandemics to the climate crisis. By directly funding cities to implement inclusive programs of their own design, the GCF:
The Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP) is a World Bank funded project through Investment Project Financing-IDA Loan to the Government of Uganda of about 50 Million dollars and is implemented by the office of the Prime Minister.
The Project provides development and direct income support to vulnerable nationals and refugees within refugee hosting districts in Uganda and aims to improve access to basic social services, expand economic opportunities and enhance environmental management in refugee hosting districts.
The Climate Parliament is an international multi-partisan network of legislators working to combat climate change and protect the living planet
The Climate Parliament is a global multi-partisan network of legislators working to inform and mobilise Members of Parliament and Congress to take action on the climate emergency and protect the living planet. It focuses particularly on the small number of MPs who are ready to exercise leadership in their parliaments on this issue.
The PowerSouth initiative, founded by two Indian women living in Germany, aims to create a more equitable relationship between resource providers, implementers and entrepreneurs by promoting inclusion and gender justice for marginalized women to become empowered in climate action.
PowerSouth offers professional services to instate women in management and ownership roles at local projects in countries, including India.
The ILO Guidelines for a Just Transition towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies for All, adopted by representatives of governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations in 2015, provide a policy framework and an operational tool to address environmental change in a way that advances social justice and promotes decent work creation.1 This policy brief is part of a series of briefs that seek to deepen the technical and policy understanding of the application of the Just Transition Guidelines.
The Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan (MCPP) includes a number of ambitious new and strengthened adaptation efforts to build resilience in populations and ecosystems through investment this decade to contribute to 2041 outcomes.