Combatting the Climate Crisis: A Proposed Framework for Policymakers to Address Climate Migration

Brooke Benjamin

The 26^th annual United Nations climate summit, or COP26, reconvened in Glasgow this year intending to “accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.”[1]

Introduction

After a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, COP26 was highly anticipated by a global audience. The climate summit is a vital event in global governance as it affords U.N. member states an opportunity to participate in diplomatic duties and address the concerns of stakeholders and interested parties. The COP21 Paris Agreement and the COP3 Kyoto Protocol are notable accomplishments from past summits but are seemingly limited to a singular focus, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Critics suggest that these agreements reflect poor planning by international leaders as they are narrow, reactionary, and dismissive of how current power structures exacerbate climate change. Climate advocates continue to push for policies that reflect how the climate crisis is “inextricably linked” to a myriad of other ills.[2] As such, pressure amounted for international leaders at COP26 to strike deals that effectively challenge the more broad and complex consequences of climate change. At the culmination of two weeks in Glasgow, 190 representing governments signed a deal reaffirming prior pledges to reduce emissions. [3] Arguably, the Glasgow Climate Deal is a regurgitation of the Paris and Kyoto goals and similarly lacks an enforcement mechanism to gain compliance or apply sanctions against noncooperative member states.

A Feminist Framework for Analysis

COP26 and the Glasgow deal suffer from the same weaknesses as their predecessors: failing to acknowledge ‘the noir history of planning’ – planning that promotes the dominant culture and the oppression of marginalized groups – and perpetuating social, economic, and environmental injustices. During conversations at the U.N. climate summits, every head at the metaphorical table accounts for a different role in a lengthy history of imperialism, colonialism, capitalism, and other power systems. These systems of structural power are compiled and analyzed in a feminist theory coined by Elisabeth Schussler entitled kyriarchy.[4] By conducting global governance within a framework inclusive of kyriarchy and noir planning histories, the U.N. climate summit would be better situated to holistically address climate change. An application of this proposed framework is best illustrated through a case study in “what environmental advocates call the most pressing issue of our time: climate change-induced migration.”[5]

Turning Attention to the U.N. Human Rights Committee

Recently, the UNHRC set a major precedent in ruling that a member state may be in violation of human rights obligations if endangered persons seeking refuge due to the climate crisis are denied.[6] The ruling came from the committees review of the case of Ioane Teitiota. Teitiota sought refuge in New Zealand from the climate crisis impacting his home in South Tarawa of  Kiribati. The committee determined that Teitiota’s concerns of saltwater contamination and violent disputes over lack of inhabitable land were legitimate concerns.[7] Further, the committee acknowledged that in ten to fifteen years Kiribati will likely be “the first country to sink due to rising sea levels.”[8] However, the U.N. was reluctant to establish Teitiota’s life as endangered and decided to affirm denial of his claim.

The committee reasoned that “intervening acts” and “the assistance of the international community” may occur before Kiribati is “uninhabitable.”[9] This rationale is reliant on action by an international community riddled with anti-asylum policies and lacking in humanitarian protections. In recent years, the U.S. has increased border enforcement and incurred allegations of mistreatment towards migrants, including those from Haiti.[10] Similarly, informal cooperation has been reported between EU member states in illegally pushing back migrants at sites including the Greece-Turkey border and the Poland-Belarus border.[11] The proposed framework reveals that there is an absence of proper classification, migration channels, and initiative from U.N. member states for intervention to occur as presumed in the committees decision. Instead, the continued operation of structural power systems will worsen living conditions and render the collapse of fragile regions like Kiribati virtually inevitable.

Placing a Spotlight on the U.S.

In the weeks leading up to COP26, an executive order and report on climate change and migration was released by the United States in conjunction with the National Security Council. This marks a major success for the Biden-Harris administration as it is the first U.S. government report to address the interconnectedness of the two topics. A stark contrast from the prior administration which frequently dismissed climate change before ultimately withdrawing from the Paris agreement. However, the NCS report fails in that it lacks any definitive “policy prescriptions” and instead provides a de facto literature review on topics already known to climate advocates and researchers.[12] The report’s primary policy solution for climate migration is reliant on a pre-existing program, Temporary Protected Status or TPS.[13] Through a lens of kyriarchy it is evident that the report’s proposed solution would only be effective upon a dramatic expansion and restructuring of the current TPS program. Further investigation into noir planning history helps reveal that such shifts are unlikely to occur given attitudes towards migration in a country where climate legislation is already difficult to pass.[14]

Overall, the report is a promising sign that research into the relationship between climate change and migration will continue. Through the proposed framework, climate change research and subsequent policy could be more comprehensive and extend to marginalized groups in areas affected by other preexisting forces of displacement like Palestine or Teitiota’s Kiribati.

 Why propose this style of analysis?

Climate migration analyzed through a framework of noir planning history and kyriarchy reveals how structural power systems and dominant ideologies intersect to greatly restrict human mobility and worsen displacement. Such analysis may help policymakers plan for climate change in the following ways: understanding impacts on stateless or otherwise vulnerable communities; adopting classifications and migration channels for climate refugees; and increasing U.N. enforcement tactics to ensure compliance with migration policies from member states.

The proposed style of analysis would be beneficial in climate conversations beyond migration. For instance, some U.N. member states have discussed implementing a carbon border tax on certain imports to incentivize countries to cut carbon emissions as proposed by the Glasgow deal.[15] The proposed framework would help policymakers answer crucial questions regarding implementation of a carbon tariff – How can carbon tariffs be equitably balanced between consumers and producers of high emitting goods? Would tariffs be unfairly imposed on developing nations lacking the funding to adopt greener practices like their developed counterparts?

Conclusion

Commentators would be right in asserting that the suggested framework would be difficult to implement given its broad scope and the various constraints on political governance. However, if the NCS report is any indication, nations within the U.N. are still in the conception phase of planning for climate change. If member states adopt multilateral frameworks when conducting fundamental research, the next U.N. convention may be better positioned to address the nuanced realities of the climate crisis.

[1] UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://ukcop26.org/

[2] United States Government 2021, Report on the Impact of Climate Change on Migration, National Security Council (United States), viewed 01 November 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Report-on-the-Impact-of-Climate-Change-on-Migration.pdf

[3] Puko, M. D. and T. (2021, November 14). COP26 Climate Deal Shows Fragility of New Emissions-Cutting Pledge. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/cop26-climate-deal-shows-fragility-of-new-emissions-cutting-pledge-11636920631

[4] Osborne, N. (2015). Intersectionality and kyriarchy: A framework for approaching power and social justice in planning and climate change adaptation. Planning Theory, 14(2), 130–151. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26098703

[5]’Disappointing’: Joe Biden’s first climate migration report falls flat. (2021, October 25). Grist. https://grist.org/climate/disappointing-the-uss-first-climate-migration-report-falls-flat/

[6] On 16 February 2016, pursuant to rule 94 of its rules of procedure, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures, decided not to request the State party to refrain from removing the author to Kiribati while the communication was under consideration by the Committee. Climate Refugees Cannot Be Forced Home, U.N. Panel Rules. Time. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://time.com/5768347/climate-refugees-un-ioane-teitiota/

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] COP26 — Spotlight. Climate Refugees. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://www.climate-refugees.org/spotlight/tag/COP26

[11] Tondo, L., & Smith, H. (2021, May 12). EU states cooperating informally to deny refugees asylum rights – report. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/may/12/eu-states-cooperating-informally-to-deny-refugees-asylum-rights-report

[12] ’Disappointing’: Joe Biden’s first climate migration report falls flat. (2021, October 25). Grist. https://grist.org/climate/disappointing-the-uss-first-climate-migration-report-falls-flat/

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] A border tax could clean up emissions — or spark a trade war. (2021, March 17). Grist. https://grist.org/climate/a-carbon-border-tax-could-clean-up-emissions-or-spark-a-trade-war/