Environmental Racism: The Next Refugee Crisis

Global warming refers to the rise in the average global temperature and is caused by increasing anthropogenic heat release as a result of human activity that creates an exponential production of Green House Gases (GHGs). As a result, there has been a substantial increase in severe weather events, and sea levels are significantly rising. These changes put people who live on low lying land, on coasts, and on developing states at grave risk of internal and/or external displacement. This thesis focuses on three Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Kiribati, and Tuvalu, which are all projected to the lose all of their territory as a result of climate change before the year 2050, rendering their populations stateless. What does the future hold for these people who are rendered stateless due to climate change? How can the international community respond to the plight of the citizens of these states? Can the human rights law, and especially the Refugee Convention, provide any relief to the impending displacement of Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu residents? Or is there an argument to be made that the developed countries of the West bear a special responsibility towards these people whose suffering can only be explained by what is called,  "environmental racism"? The thesis will demonstrate that the impending displacement of the citizens of Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu is a direct result of the developed Western states' irresponsible environmental policies and disproportionate release of GHGs. I argue that perpetuating this kind of harm on others can be best understood as a form of environmental racism. I conclude the thesis with a call for the need to consider different reparation options to alleviate the needs of those who are rendered stateless.