Climate Change and Its Impact on Human Rights: A Study on the Displaced People in Bangladesh

1. Climate Change and Its Impact on Human Rights: A Study on the Displaced People in Bangladesh Md Abdul Awal Khan PhD Candidate School of Law University of Western Sydney

2. Introduction Major impacts of climate change on human rights Displaced people as the most affected group. The need of comprehensive legal regime for the protection of climate displaced people.

3. Short Description of Bangladesh Population: 150,493,658 (2011, World Bank) Total Area: 147,570 km2 Government: Unitary Parliamentary Democracy Legal System: Common Law Rivers: 7 Major, over 200 minor Climate: tropical monsoon

4. Climate Change Scenario in Bangladesh South Asia is the most climate vulnerable region and Bangladesh ranks high in the list of vulnerable countries. (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) , Third Assessment Report 2001.) Evident Climate Change Impacts Sudden and Intensified Flood Cyclone Unpredictable rainfall Extreme temperature Drought Sea-level rise

5. Event

6. Two thirds of the country is less than 5 meters above sea level.These areas are susceptible to river, rain water and tidal flooding during storm. Source: Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services( CEGIS), Bangladesh 2009.

7. Event Source: Bangladesh Meteorological Department 2007 and Bangladesh Government and Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009.

8. Strom surges are higher in Bangladesh than in neighbouring countries because the Bay of Bengal narrows towards north. In recent years general cyclonic activity has become more frequent in the Bay of Bengal. Tracks of Cyclones over last 50 Years Source: Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services, Bangladesh 2009 and Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009.

9. Source: National Plan for Disaster Management 2010-2015, Bangladesh Government. Earth Policy Institute Report 2010. Various governments reports and peer reviewed literatures on Bangladesh.

10. Climate Change and Human Rights Impact on the Right to Life Impact on the Right to Adequate Food Impact on the Right to Water Impact on the Right to Health and Impact on the right to Adequate Housing United Nations, General Assembly, GA Res A/HRC/10/61 HRC, 10thsession, Agenda item2 (15 January 2009).

11. Human Rights Protection under the Constitution of Bangladesh The Right to Life : Article 32, The Right to Adequate Food, (Water): Article 15(a) The Right to Health: Article 18(1) and The Right to Adequate Housing : Article 15(a)

12. Human Rights Protection under International Law The Right to Life International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6 The Convention on the Rights of the Child(CRC), Article 6 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3

13. The Right to Adequate Food UDHR, Article 25 ICESCR, Article 11 CRC, Article 24 (c); Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Article 25 (f) and Article 28(1); International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), Article 5 (e).

14. The Right to Water Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water (Articles. 11 and 12); not explicitly mentioned in ICESCR, the right is seen to be implicit in Articles. 11 (adequate standard of living) and 12 (heath). General Comment No. 15 provides further guidance on the normative contents of the right to water and related obligations of States. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW), Article 14(2) (h); CRPD, Article 28(2) (a); refer to access to water services in provisions on an adequate standard of living, CRC, Article 24(2) (c). Toensureclean drinking water is as part of the States obligation.

15. The Right to Health UDHR, Article 25 CEDAW, Articles 12 and 14(2)(b); ICERD, Article 5 (e) (iv); CRC, Article 24; CRPD, Articles 16(4), 22(2), and 25; International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW), Articles 43(1)(e), 45(1) (c), and 70; ICESCR, Articles 7 (b) and 10.

16. The Right to Adequate Housing ICESCR, Article 11; UDHR, Article 25(1); ICERD, Article 5 (e) (iii); CEDAW, Article 14(2)(h); CRC, Article 27(3); ICRMW, Article 43(1)(d); CRPD, Articles. 9(1)(a), and 28(1), 28(2)(d).

17. Problem dealing with the climate displaced people Lack of widely accepted definition Unclear international legal status: no protection under ‘The 1951Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees’. No status in Bangladeshi Law.

18. The need of comprehensive legal regime for the protection of Climate Displaced People. To face climate change challenges Human rights protection National Security

19. The Quest for a Legal Framework Legal and policy development/ reform Establishment of the Status of the climate displaced people Legal protection of major human rights Climate change litigation rights Adaptation policies Determination of State responsibility to combat against climate change effective management of climate change trust fund Monitoring body Separate and independent climate change body climate change Ombudsman

20. Thank You. Comments/ Questions?