Victimization by Climate Change: Unheard voices

Ms. Arpeeta S. Mizan

Md. Golam Sarwar

• In northern Somalia, Nimcaan Farah Abdi’s 10 acres of corn, tomatoes and other vegetables were ruined as violent storms swept the Horn of Africa.

• Justus Lavi was waiting for rain in Kenya. Thewheat, beans and potatoes he planted on hisfarm in Makueni County sprouted, but therainy season brought only two days ofshowers, threatening to stunt their growthand ruin his yield.

• “We are in a piece of land which is smaller than Denmark, with a population of 160 million, trying to cope with this extreme weather, trying to cope with the effect of emissions for which we are not responsible.”

-Farah Kabir, the director in Bangladesh for the Action Aid International,

What is Justice????

Change is the ONLY constant!!!!!

Man’s penetration v. Nature’s struggle

• Climate justice is a vision to dissolve and alleviate the unequal burdens created by climate change .

- Climate justice Movement

- Climate justice means just and fairinstruments, decisions, actions burden sharingand accountability for the prevention, mitigationand adaptation related to climate change.

- - Christopher Stueckleberger

Think for a while…..

• Where is the man?

• Technicality v. man’s desires

• West v. East

Equality SecurityEnding

perpetual sufferings

VICTIMS : Who they Are

Sacrificed

Undue Harm

Deprivation

Disempowerment

Victim’s perception

• For those at stake, Climate Change has a very simple meaning.

• Fatalist

• Beyond control

The Deviant Place Theory

• Places associated with high crime rates

• Analogous application to Climate Change Victims: Coastal State population, The Sundarban communities

Victims of Environment Pollution v. Climate Change

• Easy identification

• Easy accountability

Dimensions of CC Victimhood

• No Specific offender

• Cyclic insecurity: The Need Based Model and the Foreign Donors: short-lived deliverance

Regional, Social and infrastructural Factors

• Affecting the degree of victimization

• Affects Public Health, livelihood

• Myanmar v. Cuba: 1/14,000 : 4/25

• Analogy of vulnerability and victimization

Subjectivity according to Development

• Discussion of sea level rise: Bangladesh v. Netherlands

• 0.06% since 1972: 0.61% in 2012

Victimization

Individual

Psychology, economy, emotion, family

Collective

Lack of resilience

CC Victims and HR challenges

• Desertification

• Speedy spread of malaria, anxiety, depression

• River erosion

• Controlling excavation activities to control CO2 emission

• Loss of traditional territories

Emerging Questions in International Law

• Indus Civilization

• Atlantis

• BD & Myanmar??????????????????

THINK!!

Restorative Justice

• A process where all stakeholders affected by injustice have an opportunity to DISCUSS how they have been affected and to DECIDE what should be done to REPAIR the HARM.

RESTORATIVE Justice for the CC Victims

Restorative

Responsibility• NONE

responsible

Decision by victims

• No encounter between two parties

Active engagement

• No cessation of Victimzationn

Responses to Climate Change Unavoidable nature and inevitability of Climate

Change

Mitigation and Adaptation Approach

Mitigation involves reducing or stabilizing green house gas emissions in order to mitigate

changes in climate

Adaptation refers to adjustments in ecological-social-economic systems in response to the

impact of CC.

WHY COMPENSATION?

• CONSCIENCE OF HUMANITY

• LIABILITY REGIME

DETERMINING DAMAGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

• STATE’S CONTRIBUTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE

• INCURRING RESPECTIVE LIABILITY OF EACH STATES

• ACCOUNTABILITY PROVISIONS

STATES’ OBLIGATION :

• Basic Rule of Int. Law : No Harm Rule • Chorzow factory case• Draft articles on Responsibility of States for

Internationally Wrongful Acts 2001. Victims in the legal periphery of Bangladesh • The National Adaption Program of Action (NAPA) 2005• The Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action

Plan (BCCSAP) 2009 • Bangladesh Climate Change Trust fund and Resilience

Fund 2010

BCCTFA 2010 What it aims:

• Using Funds for facing risk

• Special Programmes, Grass root level Programmes, Long term Plans

• Drawing Pilot Projects for adaptation and mitigation

What It Lacks:

• Absence of addressing the victimization Process

• Number of executives, No Clear Cut RA Procedure

• Lack of Infrastructural Design and Plan of Action

CC Victims and Human Rights Implications

• Prevailing ESC Rights than CP Rights

• States’ Pro-active approach to reduce Victimization Process

• Internationally agreed upon values for dignity of Human Being

Emerging HR question:

• Disappearance of states • Fade way the status of People

• & Their Protection Under International Law.

Judicial Implications

• Guerra and Others v. Italy, Onerylidiz v. Turkey and Ogoniland: Absence of Right to environmental information is Human Rights Violation and accelerates the victimization process.

• IACHR and US SC: Supranational Human Rights Legal Systems to impose duty on states to prevent climate change

• Regional HR systems to confront states and make them compliant

Recent Cop 19 of UNFCCC

• Reluctance from Development Countries

• Non feasibility of UN Climate Funds. De…d

causes of bulk of

emissions

De..ing..

needs excessive industrial

ization

Yet to reach consensus =

Lowering Commitments not emissions

Recommendations

• Autonomous Body accompanied with Strong Legislation.

• Enhancing Climate Fitness

• Exhaustive Risk Assessment Procedure

• Decentralizing the Management of CC Trust Fund

• Ensuring Transparency and Accountability (RECENT SURVERY by TIB: NGOs had to give 20% of

Project money as bribe to have their funds released)