IACHR publishes resolution on human mobility and climate change

Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has published Resolution No. 2/24 on Human Mobility induced by Climate Change. The document seeks to address the phenomenon of climate mobility in a comprehensive manner, with the aim of guiding States in the region in the development of regulations, programs, and public policies to protect the rights of people who move because of the adverse effects of climate change.

The Resolution presents a definition of climate mobility that encompasses displacement, migration, planned relocation, and interactions with immobility. It also recognizes climate mobility as complex and multi-causal, difficult to characterize because it includes different factors that interrelate and intensify the effects of climate change, such as violence, insecurity, inequality, or persecution.

Over the last decade, nearly 24.5 million people were displaced internally as a result of disasters such as storms and floods, according to data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, and the Americas region was one of the most exposed to the impacts of climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Factors such as hurricanes, wildfires, and rising sea levels, along with environmental degradation and socio-environmental disasters, affect people and communities in vulnerable situations who are forced to abandon their homes.

States in the region have made efforts to develop measures aimed at dealing with some aspects of climate mobility. However, the IACHR warns that challenges persist, such as the lack of policy articulation or the incorporation of a human-rights-based approach into these initiatives.

Against this backdrop and on the basis of inter-American standards, the Resolution proposes legal and programmatic guidelines on the different facets of climate mobility. In particular, the Resolution identifies: i) measures that should be adopted to guarantee access to information and the availability of data; ii) State duties regarding prevention, mitigation, and adaptation; iii) measures aimed at protection and assistance in cases of immobility, migration, or displacement; iv) guidance for the implementation of durable solutions, such as safe return, reintegration, or planned relocation; and v) principles to ensure access to justice and reparation.

The IACHR hopes that this Resolution will be used by States as a general guide to support the adoption of effective and durable responses for the benefit of people experiencing climate mobility and host societies, based on human rights, equality, and non-discrimination. The IACHR also reiterates its willingness to provide technical assistance to States in the region and to contribute actively to the design and implementation of State responses.

OBMICA welcomes the Resolution, understanding that it is a major step forward in addressing an outstanding challenge in the insular Caribbean. Hopefully, the States of the region will study its guidelines and adapt their public policies accordingly.