ISSN: 2772-9486
Climate-Forced Displacement of Indigenous People: Enforcement Challenges By Tabitha Thijm*
ABSTRACT Our global environment has been experiencing significant degradation caused by human activity through the destruction of ecosystems, decrease in quality of water and air as well as the depletion of natural resources and habitats. This ecological degradation has caused striking changes in weather conditions and is presently labelled as climate change. Sudden onset and slow-onset climate change events reinforce a perpetual interplay between socioeconomic, developmental, and disaster-related crises, often leading to displacements of the most vulnerable people. This article provides an exploratory ethnic study on climate forced displacement of Indigenous Peoples from a legal perspective and dissects the plausible factors that contribute to the persistent threat of anthropogenic ethnocide. The aim of addressing climate forced displacement of Indigenous Peoples is to attest to their kincentric-ecology and symbiotic approach to environmental crises and exemplifies the exigency of administering these methods into our Western systems. The history of Indigenous Peoples’ participation at UN Climate Change Conferences [COPs] over time, is a paradigm that reflects the ongoing inadequate representation of the minority group at momentous forums, and contests imperialistic patterns as a common denominator that accommodates marginalisation and lack of enforcement. Ultimately, this paper engages in the exploration of broadening the language of significant treaties such as the Rome Statute by introducing, for example, the terms ‘ecocide’ and ‘ethnocide’ to the core crimes, as a means to achieve durable solutions to climate change derived from the recognition of Indigenous Peoples rights and customs.
*
LL.B. Candidate, International and European Law Program, The Hague University of Applied Sciences.
2022 issue 1 ILSA Law Journal
65
