A/77/549
global ecological crisis is predicted to wipe out some of their territories before the
end of the twenty-first century. 65
Race, ethnicity, national origin and climate-induced displacement
34. As the Special Rapporteur has detailed in prior reports, racial and xenophobic
discrimination are root causes of forced displacement, but they also significantly
determine who can move within and across borders, and who is immobilized against
their will. 66 This is true in the context of environmental and climate induced
displacement. 67 Manifestations of environmental racism and climate injustice include
forced displacement, as well as the inability of racially marginalized peoples to flee
contamination hotspots or areas of escalated natural disaster risk.
35. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), 90 per cent of refugees and most internally displaced persons come from
highly climate vulnerable countries. 68 At the same time, highly climate vulnerable
countries host over 40 per cent of refugees, while internally displaced persons in
conflict-affected and climate vulnerable countries are often displaced to areas where
they are exposed and vulnerable to climate-related hazards. 69 The risk for refugees
and internally displaced persons is two-fold: on the one hand, settlements are
disproportionately concentrated in regions that are exposed to higher-than-average
warming levels and specific climate hazards, including temperature extremes and
drought; on the other hand, these populations frequently inhabit settlements and legal
circumstances that are intended to be temporary but are protracted across generations,
all the while facing legal and economic barriers in their ability to migrate away from
climate impacts. Large concentrations of these settlements are in the Sahel, 70 the Near
East and Central Asia, 71 where temperatures will rise higher than the global average,
and extreme temperatures will exceed thresholds for safe habitation. Many refugees
are racially and ethnically marginalized people. Systemic racism in international
border regimes constrains the movement of racially marginalized peoples, while
allowing citizens of the global North unprecedented autonomy to travel, migrate 72
and avoid environmentally unsafe areas. With climate change being framed as a
security issue, security corporations and other actors are contributing to border
militarization that further prevents many displaced by climate conditions from finding
safety. 73 Within countries, spatial segregation and discrimination in housing or
economic opportunities traps racially marginalized communities in specific locations
within the country. 74
36. A number of submissions highlighted forced displacement from racial sacrifice
zones, as well as the racist and xenophobic treatment of migrants and refugees who
__________________
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
22-24043
Ibid.
See A/HRC/38/52; A/HRC/48/76; A/75/590; A/HRC/44/57; and A/HRC/35/41.
Carmen Gonzalez, “Climate change, race, and migration”, Journal of Law and Political Economy,
vol. 109 (2020).
UN News, “Climate change link to displacement of most vulnerable is clear: UNHCR”, 22 April
2021.
Based on analysis of available data from Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Global Internal
Displacement database, available at www.internal-displacement.org/database/displacement-data;
and the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative, Country Index database, available at
https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), “Decade of Sahel
conflict leaves 2.5 million people displaced”, 14 January 2022.
UNHCR, “Displaced on the frontlines of the climate emergency”, 2021.
E. Tendayi Achiume, “Racial borders”, The Georgetown Law Journal, vol. 110, No. 3 (2022).
Submission from Francis.
See A/HRC/49/48.
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