Chapter

International humanitarian law and climate change

Tuiloma Neroni Slade

Asia-Pacific perspectives on international humanitarian law

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2020

p. 643-655

English

There cannot be any question now that the issue of climate change is one of serious humanitarian proportions, and not merely an environmental problem. In every part of the world, increased climate variability and greater intensity and frequency of extreme weather events cause and aggravate humanitarian needs in emergencies. Within the Asia-Pacific region large numbers of communities, especially the poor and most vulnerable, face severe exposure with little hope of effective protection. While an array of necessary climate adaptation work is now underway across the region, many millions of people being impacted and forcibly displaced will remain at high risk and will require substantial humanitarian assistance and protection. Environmental degradation and the competition for water, food and other vital resources are causing or accelerating national and border disputes, or even triggering wider conflict. Against this background and with a focus on the perspective of small islands States, this chapter will examine the relationship between international humanitarian law (IHL) and climate change and the role of IHL in the protection of communities against the impacts and dangers of climate change.

• Full text : restricted access (ICRC)

• Asia-Pacific perspectives on international humanitarian law / ed. by Suzannah Linton,Tim McCormack [and] Sandesh Sivakumaran