In the last six years over 140 million people have been forced to move because of climate change disasters: droughts, harvest failures and devastating storms. The warming of our planet is driving long-term environmental damage and devastating catastrophes. The UN believes that the number of ‘environmental refugees’ could reach 300 million people by the middle of this century.
“Extreme weather events” are a threat across the planet: Hurricane Sandy inundating New York City. Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, killing over 6,000 people and destroying millions of jobs. Drought, water scarcity and agricultural crises in Somalia, Darfur, Syria and sub-Saharan Africa. Wildfires raging through Fort McMurray, Canada. These are just few examples from recent years.
Climate change is devastating jobs and whole economies, and is a growing concern to trade unions for whom effective responses are now a fundamental issue of economic, employment and income security. Yet ‘environmental refugees’ have no legal status in international law and, as yet, no champions across civil society.
And all this is taking place in the context of a right wing backlash against all refugees and migrants – and the resurgence of climate change deniers in positions of power – most notably in the White House.
So the decision to organize a conference on climate refugees, originally proposed by the PCS, and now supported a number of unions and trade union activists, including the Campaign Against Climate Change and its Trade Union Committee could hardly be more timely.
‘Climate Refugees’ – The Climate Crisis and Population Displacement: Building a Trade Union and Civil Society Response [see below] is also supported by Friends of the Earth, trade unions and environmental, refugee and human rights campaigns. It will include expert briefings, and new evidence of the impact of climate change on human security. We aim to dispel myths about refugees, debate a possible new UN human rights framework for environmental refugees, and raise demands for stronger government leadership on this fundamental issue and debate a new campaign statement.
Contributions: from Prof Joanna Haigh (Grantham Institute at Imperial College), Asad Rehman (FoE), Clara Paillard (PCS), Amjad Abdulla (Alliance of Small Island States tbc), Dave Green (FBU), Sharan Burrow (ITUC, tbc), Wilf Sullivan (TUC), Zak Cochrane (Stand Up To Racism), NUT, PSI, Zita Holbourne (PCS), Jonathan Neale (Global Climate Jobs), Suzanne Jeffery (Campaign Against Climate Change), and more.4
• Four workshops: on unions and campaigns for climate jobs; raising awareness of climate change impacts at national and global level; unions and campaign groups challenging xenophobia and hostility to refugees and migrants; and joint work to draft a new Protocol for the international protection of those affected by climate change.
• Nominations: for the Climate Refugees Organising Group
Register now here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climate-crisis-population-displacement-a-union-civil-society-response-tickets-29200167487
Supporters so far: Campaign Against Climate Change, Friends of the Earth, FBU, TSSA, CWU, PCS, NUT, Stand Up to Racism and other unions and environmental campaigns.
Alan Thornett and Terry Conway
* Socialist Resistance. December 12, 2016:
http://socialistresistance.org/time-to-act-on-climate-refugees/9397
‘Climate Refugees’- The Climate Crisis and Population Displacement: Building a Trade Union and Civil Society Response
DESCRIPTION
National Conference Saturday 11th February 2017
‘Climate Refugees’- The Climate Crisis and Population Displacement: Building a Trade Union and Civil Society Response
In the last six years over 140 million people were forced to move because of climate change disasters: droughts, harvest failures and devastating storms. Our warming planet is driving long-term environmental damage and sudden catastrophes. The UN believes that the number of ‘environmental refugees’ could reach 300 million people by the middle of this century.
“Extreme weather events” are an existential threat: Hurricane Sandy inundating New York City. Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, killing over 6,000 people and destroying millions of jobs. Drought, water scarcity and agricultural crises in Somalia, Darfur, Syria and sub-Saharan Africa. Wildfires raging through Fort McMurray, Canada. And flooded cities in the UK. Climate change is devastating jobs and whole economies, and is a growing concern to trade unions for whom effective responses are now a fundamental issue of economic, employment and income security. Yet ‘environmental refugees’ have no legal status in international law and, as yet, no champions across civil society.
‘Climate Refugees’ - The Climate Crisis and Population Displacement: Building a Trade Union and Civil Society Response is supported by trade unions and environmental, refugee and human rights campaigns. It will include expert briefings, and new evidence of the impact of climate change on human security. We aim to dispel myths about refugees, debate a possible new UN human rights framework for environmental refugees, and raise demands for stronger government leadership on this fundamental issue.
We are charging an entrance fee to help us cover costs, but we do not want financial circumstances to deter people from attending, and we are aware that many of those who might want to attend may well not have funds. In this event, please contact the campaign by emailing climatetradeunion gmail.com and we can provide free entrance.
Session 1: Climate change and population displacement
Chair: Clara Paillard, President, PCS Culture Group
• Professor Joanna Haigh, FRS, Co-Director of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College
• Amjad Abdulla, Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (tbc)
• Dave Green, National Officer, Fire Brigades Union
• Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)(tbc)
Session 2: Building a trade union and civil society response: Panel and debate
Chair: Wilf Sullivan, TUC Race Relations Committee
• Zak Cochrane – Stand Up To Racism - dispelling the myths of migrants
• Asad Rehman, FoE Senior Campaigner, International Climate - the politics of climate migration and the UN Refugee Convention
• Zita Holbourne, Vice-President, PCS -post-colonialism and structural inequalities.
Lunch break with food, art works and music
Sessions 3: Afternoon Workshops Briefing
Breakouts into Strategy Workshops
• Mitigating climate change – unions and campaigns working together – lead Jonathan Neale, Global Climate Jobs
• Raising awareness of climate change impacts across unions, students and the wider public – lead tbc
• Fighting xenophobia and hostility to refugees – lead Zak Cochrane, Stand Up To Racism
• Campaigning internationally to protect climate refugees: a new UN Protocol to the UN Refugee Convention – leads Asad Rehman, FoE, and Dave Green, FBU
Session 4: The way ahead
Strategic priorities from workshops and nominations for Climate Refugees Organising Group
NUT Conference Centre, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, Euston, London
DATE AND TIME
Sat, February 11, 2017
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM GMT
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LOCATION
NUT Conference Centre
Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, Euston, London
United Kingdom