SJS 6- "Protecting Climate Refugees: The Case For A Global Protocol"

Article: Protecting Climate Refugees: The Case For A Global Protocol

Biermann, Frank, and Ingrid Boas. "Protecting Climate Refugees: The Case For A Global Protocol." Environment 50.6 (2008): 8-17. GreenFILE. Web. 5 May 2016.

Author Bio: Both Frank Biermann and Ingrid Boasare are college professors and climate scientists in the Netherlands. One bias that they could have is that they may feel that not all first world countries should be responsible for climate change refugees because Europe is already inundated with refugees from the Middle East. However, their views are completely contrary to this, eliminating the possibility of this bias. Another bias that they might have is that the Netherlands is a first world country, but not one of the top powers. A government such as that of America's may have a different viewpoint because America would be contributing a large amount of money to this fund.

Date/Context: This article is concerned with the current policies regarding climate change, along with future policies that would ensure the safety of people in coastal areas. Because of climate change, the sea level is expected to rise one to two inches in the next twenty years. This will cause mass destruction and displacement of people from these coastal and island areas. The article focuses mainly on ways to create future programs that will help countries to manage displaced persons.

Summary: This piece first discusses how climate change creates refugees, stating that a 1-2 inch sea level rise would endanger countries like Maldives and Tuvalu because it would greatly increase the severity of storms and floods. The piece then discusses a proposal at the Geneva Convention that suggested that climate refugees be groups with political refugees, but would remain under the jurisdiction of their own governments. This would create many problems because of the disputes that would occur between the rights of the host country and the person's home country. The article goes on to explore the idea of the UN Security Council handling this issue, but then proposes that a separate organization would be better suited. Lastly, the modification of the UN's definition of "refugee" is discussed, and how the inclusion of climate refugees would grant these people the same rights as other refugees. It also proposes that the UN create a list of all countries threatened by climate change, so that there would be a solid definition for climate refugees, as there is for political refugees.

Key Quotation: "The planning  for  a  climate  refugee  protocol and the related institutional settings can- not wait until 2050 when it might be too late for orderly and organized responses. It must begin now."