Mobility-induced loss and damage and vulnerability: An integrated policy approach for Africa

 Jane Akot
 MSc (Uganda)
 Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda, under African Women Leaders in Agro-Ecology (AWOLA) project
 https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4778-9655
 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 Edition: AJCLJ Volume 1 2024
 Pages: 92 - 108
 Citation: J Akot ‘Mobility-induced loss and damage and vulnerability: An integrated policy approach for Africa’ (2024) 1 African Journal of Climate Law and Justice 92-108
 https://doi.org/10.29053/ajclj.v1i1.0005
 Download article in PDF

Abstract: The concept of loss and damage (L&D) has increasingly gained attention in global climate discussions and is anticipated to cause displacement and increase vulnerability and implications for human rights. However, there is limited analysis on how the L&D caused by climate mobility connects with vulnerability, and the appropriate policy response to address the linkages. This article demonstrates the interfaces and advocates the need for an integrated policy approach to address mobility induced by L&D in Africa.

Key words: climate change; displacement; human rights; integrated policy approach; loss and damage; vulnerability

1 Introduction

The concept of loss and damage (L&D) is the actual and/or potential manifestation of impacts associated with climate change in developing countries that negatively affect human and natural systems.1 It is both a policy mechanism and the sum of impacts inflicted by climate change and extreme events.2 These include economic losses such as loss of property, assets, infrastructure, agricultural production and/or revenue, and those that are difficult to quantify in economic terms, such as degraded health, losses induced by human mobility, loss of cultural heritage, and loss of indigenous and local knowledge.

The concept of L&D started in 1991 when the small island developing states (SIDs) demanded compensation for the losses that had occurred due to climate change. It then became a formal part of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since the establishment of the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM).3 The insufficiencies in the mitigation and adaptation efforts, evidence of the increasing global warming4 and the concerns about historical responsibility have raised several queries relating to environmental injustices caused by climate change.5

Climate change is a result of long-term accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause a rise in global temperatures and effects including drought, sea level rise, floods and wild fires.6 Although other factors such as natural disasters and changes in land use also cause environmental problems,7 climate change is the major cause of environmental destruction, including biodiversity loss.8 Estimates reveal that desertification due to drought alone affects over 4 billion hectares of land in more than 164 countries, and directly impacts approximately 1,5 billion people globally.9 The consequences of climate change may worsen to the level that even if global temperature is maintained below 2°C, or 1,5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels, significant impact will still be felt on the biodiversity.10

The biodiversity which is the main component of the environment, is very fundamental in supporting the livelihood of mankind. For instance, the ecosystem which is the functional unit of biodiversity supplies multiple services such as the provision of a habitat, fuel wood, food, timber, medicinal plants, and cultural and environmental sustaining functions.11 These services serve as a source of employment and livelihood for billions of people in the world.12 However, the ecosystem is threatened by the escalating loss of biodiversity.13 Environmental degradation and loss of ecosystem services may deteriorate living conditions and force people to be displaced.

For instance, flooding associated with mud slide14 and drought associated with desertification and land degradation have displaced many people in Eastern and Western Africa.15 Migration can occur within or across countries. Without adequate measures and global action, up to 216 million people in six world regions could be affected by climate-induced migration and internal displacement by 2050.16 Migration may increase environmental degradation especially when it is associated with over-population, insecurity and scarcity of resources.17 These may limit access to essential needs such as food, water, forest resources, and land for cultivation, therefore increasing the rate of vulnerability of specific groups of people, including women, children, the elderly, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and youths.18

The people who are displaced by climate change are exposed to several risks, including loss of cultural land, conflict and insecurity, loss of cultural heritage,19 loss of life, loss of freedom of choice, and inaccessibility to public services.20 These may violate their rights including the right to life, food, water, good health, good living conditions, and access to social and cultural rights.21 Several policies and regulatory frameworks have been put in place to address some of these human rights issues. However, most of the policies under UNFCCC focus more on the migrants with less focus on those who remain but are also vulnerable.22

Vulnerability to climate change displacement may increase when adaptation actions are unaffordable,23 or not physically or technically possible,24 socially difficult,25 or not sufficient to prevent the associated problems.26 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people live in contexts that are highly vulnerable to climate change27 with the majority located in conflict-prone and fragile-prone areas.28 Although more (80 per cent) greenhouse gases are emitted by developed countries,29 African countries are disproportionally vulnerable to the long-lasting impacts spread all over the world.30 This has increasingly raised ethical issues relating to justice, rights, welfare, virtue, political legitimacy and interaction between humanity and nature.31 The Paris Agreement (PA) was therefore adopted to address some of these inequality issues.32 However, technological, financial and gaps in assessing non-economic losses still limit its operations. Knowledge on the linkages between climate change, displacement and L&D is crucial for informing new policy developments that would help to reduce the associated problems.

There has been recognition of the effects of climate-induced displacement on human rights. However, there is limited information about specific interfaces that exist between L&D caused by climate mobility and the vulnerable groups and also the appropriate policy that links to them. Therefore, this article describes losses and damages caused by climate displacement and explores linkages to selected human rights legal/policy instruments and agreements that protect the rights of vulnerable groups such as children, women, the disabled, the youth, Indigenous Peoples, and people in disaster-prone areas.

2 Connecting the dots

2.1 Climate change, the environment and ecosystem services

The environment is an interconnected system that comprises physical, social, cultural and biological elements that form biodiversity. The biological environment that encompasses the evolutionary, ecological and cultural processes for the sustenance of life on earth33 is diverse in terms of gene, species and ecosystem.34 The ecosystem, being the major functional unit of biodiversity consisting of biotic and abiotic components that interacts with each other within and beyond their ecological niches, is fundamental to mankind.35 Whereas 70 per cent of Africa’s population derives their livelihood from agriculture,36 over 80 per cent relies solely on traditional medicine derived from plants for their primary healthcare needs.37 However, the environment, including biodiversity, is increasingly deteriorating worldwide. Evidence shows increasing extinction rates and decreasing global trends for the large majority of nature’s contributions to the survival of humankind.38

The ecosystem supplies multiple services required to meet human needs and sustain livelihoods. These include provisioning services such as feed, fuel wood, food, timber; regulating services including disease and climate regulation; supporting services such as soil formation, nutrient retention; and cultural services, for instance, recreation and ecotourism.39 These services serve as a source of employment and livelihood for billions of people in the world,40 but the degradation of biodiversity has limited its ability to provide these services.41 Although other factors such as natural disasters and changes in land use also cause environmental problems,42 climate change is the major cause of environmental destruction, including biodiversity loss.43

For example, slow onset such as droughts and extreme climate events such as storm surges, sea level rises and floods have caused the extinction of species, loss of habitat, bleaching of coral reefs, loss of vegetation cover, loss of soil fertility, air and water pollution, acidification and eutrophication.44 These have declined agricultural productivity, threatened food security and environmental quality.45 The degradation of the ecosystems may lead to scarcity in natural resources, deteriorate living conditions and cause displacement of people.46 For instance, floods associated with mud slides and drought associated with desertification and land degradation have caused a shortage of ecological resources such as timber, fuel wood and food, and caused many people in Eastern and Western Africa to migrate.47 Migration may lead to population growth that results in over-exploitation of resources and conflicts.48 These may further increase loss of biodiversity, destruction of food systems, loss of cultural heritage49 and deterioration of human health, among others.50

Today, over 85 per cent of the world population lives in a state of ecological overshoot.51 Lack of vegetation cover is associated with soil erosion, loss of soil nutrients, loss of soil moisture, reduction in agricultural productivity and food insecurity.52 Whereas 28 out of the 37 countries that rely on food aid come from Africa, more than 226 million people in Africa are starving, and 40 to 50 per cent live below the poverty line.53 Indigenous Peoples who take care of over 40 per cent of the total global land area providing refuge for approximately 80 per cent of the earth’s biodiversity, provide a good opportunity for environmental protection.54 However, their knowledge is not adequately documented and, therefore, is being eliminated.55

Despite the existing environmental policies and environmental programmes in Africa, the increasing rate of global warming is anticipated to increase environmental degradation, exacerbate displacement and the rate of vulnerability on the continent.56

2.2 Climate mobility and specific vulnerable groups

Climate migration and its associated problems have increased the vulnerability of women, children, the elderly, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and the youth.57 According to IPCC, vulnerability refers to the degree to which a system is susceptible to and unable to cope with the adverse effects of climate change.58 Under UNFCCC, vulnerability is measured by adaptation matrix against parameters such as adequacy and effectiveness of adaptation support.59

Vulnerability may occur when adaptation actions are unaffordable,60 not physically or technically possible,61 socially difficult,62 or not sufficient to prevent the issues.63 Vulnerability due to climate change may take several paths and have resultant effects on migrants, host communities, and the people who remain. For instance, occurrences of flooding associated with loss of assets,64 and droughts associated with shortages of water, pasture and land degradation may force people to abandon their ancestral land.65 Although migration can be an effective climate change adaptation strategy, it is also associated with several environmental risks. For instance, in Karamoja, North Eastern Uganda, mobility is used to access water and pasture, but also to control diseases and parasites. However, the livestock herders interface with several insecurity threats.66 When this happens, women, children and the disabled who remain behind are exposed to security risks as they may not be able to defend themselves. Migration requires economic and physical capacities that everyone may not have, and because of inadequate opportunities, incapabilities and more exposure to security threats, women, children and elderly people usually are those left behind in the face of, climate migration crisis.67

When climate migration associates with over-population,68 it may lead to over-utilisation of resources that cause an increase in ecosystems degradation.69 Linking to their responsibilities, women are more vulnerable to ecosystem degradation as they greatly depend on environmental resources such as water, firewood and other forest products to support family needs.70 Their limited access to resources, including land, information, and the likelihood of being unemployed, further constrain them. Poor people are equally vulnerable to ecosystems degradation as they are disproportionately dependent on biodiversity to meet their day-to-day livelihood needs.71

The degradation of biodiversity72 may reduce yields and lead to food insecurity and malnutrition,73 which is felt more by women and children who are exposed to high mortality rates.74 The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) estimates that the number of people suffering hunger may increase from 60 million in 2014 to 840 million by 2030.75 Indigenous Peoples have vast knowledge on biodiversity and agro-ecology,76 which are crucial for adaptation and improving food production. However, climate displacement detaches them from traditional systems that may lead to loss of cultural identity, causing them to lose their vast knowledge.77 The young generation is also threatened as meeting their future resource needs may be difficult owing to the increasing rate of environmental destruction and global warming.78

Addressing the increasing rate of vulnerability to climate displacement79 is difficult but may improve with the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes that protect the integrity and diversity of nature, and those that ensure equitable, ecological and sustainable use of natural resources.80 The integration of a human rights-based approach in any climate change adaptation and mitigation measure is key.

2.3 Climate mobility and key human rights

Climate migration may cause adverse impacts on social environmental rights of vulnerable people. These may include the right to a safe and healthy environment, security, freedom of movement, right to food, water, cultural identity and sense of place. Human rights and the environment are interrelated, interconnected, and mutually responsive as they both address the well-being of humanity, meaning that, a safe and healthy environment is necessary for the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights.81 The majority of the African population rely on environmental resources such as wood products, food, medicinal plants, water, land, cultural heritage, and habitat for sustenance of their livelihoods.82 However, climate change has deteriorated the biodiversity that underpins these services, caused a decline in ecosystem services,83 and displaced many people.84

The growing evidence of biodiversity degradation that is associated with loss of a safe environment has increased concerns and debates around biodiversity conservation and has also given birth to several policy instruments. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) provides for biodiversity conservation.85 Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) recognises the need for the rights of all people to a general satisfactory environment favourable to their development.86 The preamble 4 to the African Leaders Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action (DCCCA) calls for the successful implementation of Sham el-Sheik (COP 27) decision at the Arab Republic of Egypt, while preambles 22 and 24 call for the operationalisation of the L&D fund as agreed in COP 27 and integration of biodiversity in national plans and processes respectively.87

The Cancun Declaration on Mainstreaming the Conservation and Sustainable use of Biodiversity for Well-Being highlights the need to live in harmony with nature, and stresses out the need for additional efforts to ensure implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and facilitate closer collaboration with other initiatives adopted by international community.88 The Kunming Declaration (KD) recognises the progress made under the 2011-2020 strategic plan of biodiversity, but is deeply concerned that the progress has been insufficient to realise some biodiversity targets, thus the ongoing biodiversity loss possesses risks to human health, social security and culture prosperity, and jeopardises the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs).89

The implementation plan of Sharm el-Sheik (COP 27) decision recognises the growing gravity , scope and frequency of L&D associated with adverse effects of climate change including forced displacement, and expresses the financial costs associated with L&D for developing countries, causing debt burden and impairing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).90 Violations of rights to a safe environment, mainly due to biodiversity loss, may also be linked to violations of other human rights and well-beings, thus requiring integrated policy approaches and implementation.

Human rights violations can take place even before people leave their countries of origin. These may include difficulties in accessing travel permits, interfering with the right to freedom of movement91 that may violate the rights to social protection and social security. Article 9(2)(f) of the Kampala Convention on Internally Displaced Persons (CIDP) guarantees freedom of movement and choice of residence of internally-displaced persons (IDPs), except where the restriction on such movements is necessary, justified and appropriate to the requirements of ensuring security for the IDPs or maintaining public security, order or public health.92 However, in most cases climate refugees are normally hosted in specified locations known as camps.

Climate migration may cause insecurity especially in situations of severe resource scarcity that may lead to loss of assets. This threatens the right to social protection. Article 7 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of Citizens to Social Protection guarantees social protection of migrants, and article 4 guarantees social insurance.93 Even with these policies in place, many people lose assets due to climate-associated migration, especially when migration occurs on a voluntary basis. For instance, host communities in Northern Uganda suffer losses of assets including livestock to Karamojongs as they temporarily migrate with their livestock in search of water and pastures.94

When climate migration causes a population increase, it may lead to over-utilisation, reduction in ecosystem services and contamination of some natural resources. For instance, the lack of access to safe and clean water is a common problem at almost all refugee settlements. Linked to their responsibility, women are more affected as they experience difficulties in accessing water for their families. Article 15 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (African Women’s Protocol) ensures that women have the right to clean drinking water.95 However, approximately 1,1 billion people lack access to clean water supplies and more than 2,6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation.96

A reduction in ecosystem services, including water shortages, may weaken agricultural production, hence leading to food insecurity that violates the right of access to food. Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) recognises the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including food and freedom from hunger.97 Because agricultural production may cause environmental degradation, the realisation of article 11 will require an improvement in the methods of production, conservation and distribution of food through making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, dissemination of knowledge on principles of nutrition and reforming agrarian systems for efficient use of natural resources. A similar point can be made of article 15(b) of the African Women’s Protocol which also recognises the rights of women to nutritious food.98 However, recent data reveals that more than two billion people lack regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food, and an estimated 821 million people are not able to acquire sufficient food to meet the minimum dietary energy requirement.99 This makes it difficult to achieve the SDG to eradicate poverty by 2030.

Food and water shortages may increase the likelihood of illness and death, which violates the right to good health and the right to life. The right to good health is protected in article 12 of ICESCR which provides that all people have a right to the enjoyment of the highest standard of physical and mental health.100 The right to life is protected in article 4 of the African Charter which notes that every human being is entitled to respect for their life and the integrity of their person,101 and in article 9 of the Kampala Convention which calls for the protection of the right to life during settlement.102 Despite the existence of all the above-mentioned provisions, many people still die due to food shortages and contamination. For instance, two million people die every year due to water contamination.103

Climate displacement may increase government expenditures, and the need for more human capital and technological advancement diverts the states’ attention from other development priorities to climate actions, therefore leading to a violation of the right to development which is protected in article 55(a) of the Charter of the United Nation (UN Charter), which calls for the promotion of economic growth and social progress and development,104 article 1 of ICESCR which recognises that all people are entitled to economic, social and cultural development,105 and article 3 of the Declaration on the Human Right to Development (DHRD) which recognises that states have the primary responsibility for the creation of national and international conditions favourable to the realisation of the right to development.106

Despite these policy frameworks, vulnerability to climate displacement remains alarming. The challenges in addressing climate change are increasingly becoming urgent with the window of opportunity seemingly closing due to the anticipated greater impact at a 2 degree Celsius. For instance, a 50 to 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050 has been proposed as a means to limit GHG abundance below 500 ppm CO 2-eq.107 The realisation of the weakness of the current mitigation and adaptation measures, evidence of the increasing rise in global temperature, and concerns about the historical responsibility has caused long-term international debates that called for negotiation for a more equitable sustainable growth pathway.108

3 Integrated policy approach driven by the Paris Agreement

The integrated policy approach broadly refers to a process of embedding cross-cutting policy issues across compartmentalised, fragmented and siloed policy systems, and this may involve the integration of new policy issues into old policy processes.109 The Paris Agreement (PA) is a legally-binding international treaty on climate change that was adopted by 196 parties at the conclusion of the twenty-first UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015 after a long period (nearly 17 years) of negotiation.110 It is the second global climate change treaty formed after the establishment of the Kyoto Protocol in 1998, but the first international treaty to dedicate an entire article to loss and damage.111

The agreement was notable for creating a unanimous, legally-binding accord in some key areas of climate change in spite of the complexity and difficulties relating to differing needs of developed and developing countries.112 In particular, the PA addressed equity through establishing common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities as a basic principle that requires developed countries to take the lead in curbing emissions.113 The Kyoto Protocol previously had setbacks because countries, including the United States of America, did not ratify it, Russia and Japan did not join the second commitment period and countries including Canada withdrew from it due to different views regarding the developed and developing countries. As a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, the PA has transformed the international climate regime from a ‘regulatory’ to a ‘catalytic and facilitative’ model.114 It provides an inclusive framework and relies on the concept of self-differentiation, based on the notion that each country is individually best placed to assess its capabilities in relation to mitigation policies.115

The treaty was therefore launched as a landmark international agreement whereby all nations agreed to take responsibility in reducing GHG emissions for the first time. However, it is based on voluntary emission reduction pledges, hence no legal framework binds party members’ voluntary pledges.116 At its core are the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that specify national pledges to reduce GHG emissions and adapt to climate change in a sustainable manner.117 Article 7(14) and article 14 of the treaty require all parties to do a regular global stock take of progress, while article 13 requires parties to make transparent frameworks to track progress on the implementation of their NDCs, and article 13 emphasises adaptation actions.118 Parties are therefore obligated to create a five-yearly assessment of observed adaptation to track progress and enable appropriate future commitments.119

As also prioritised by the 196 parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the inclusion of actions for addressing biodiversity loss by the parties to PA in their NDCs provides an essential opportunity to combat biodiversity loss as different ecologies are unique and may require specific actions.120 Addressing direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss requires integrated policy approaches and coherent implementation.121 Despite the progress so far, the global stock take, which should have been concluded at COP 28, is anticipated to be far from reaching the goal due to the inconsistencies in pledges made provided by the NDCs.122 Furthermore, the current adaptation reporting requirements are not sufficient to enable countries to provide complete, transparent or consistent reports of their adaptation activities.123 The UNFCCC recognises that achievement of the NDCs depends greatly on the availability of financial and technological support to developing countries.

Supported by article 9, PA’s obligation for developed country parties to provide financial support to assist developing country parties with mitigation and adaptation efforts led to the agreement to mobilise not less than $100 billion annually.124 Serving as the fourth session, decisions 2 and 3 of the PA established the new fund for responding to loss and damage, and decision 4 established a transitional committee to assist on the operationalisation of the new funding arrangements for responding to loss and damage.125 However, the committee still lacks clarity on the sources and scope of the application of the new funding arrangements.126

Yet, Africa faces financial deficits. Between about $1.3 trillion and $1.6 trillion, averaging $1.4 trillion, will be needed between 2020 and 2030 to implement Africa’s climate action commitments and NDCs, while accessing the current fund is difficult for vulnerable communities due to application complexities and delays in disbursement.127 The existing financial opportunities should be transformed to enable the timely disbursement of funds. For the new funding arrangements, more clarity should be given to the transition committee to guide them on the scope and mode of application of the funds. A policy arrangement that protects the rights of groups in vulnerable situations, such as Indigenous Peoples, the youth, persons with disabilities and women, is key. Such a policy approach also requires the inclusion and prioritisation of biodiversity enhancement actions in the NDCs of states.128

4 Conclusion

The challenges in addressing climate change are increasingly becoming urgent with windows of opportunity seemingly closing due to its anticipated greater impacts. L&D is associated with climate change in developing countries and negatively affects human and natural systems. More importantly, as the article has illustrated, it has occasioned displacement in different parts of Africa. This development has implications for groups such as women, children, the youth, elderly and Indigenous Peoples mostly in developing countries that are highly dependent on climate-sensitive resources and with low technological, financial and adaptive capacities. The need to address mobility induced by L&D requires an integrated policy approach and a coherent implementation strategies in Africa.