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47 Vt. L. Rev. 1 (2022-2023)

handle is hein.journals/vlr47 and id is 1 raw text is: CLIMATE CHANGE, MIGRATION, AND PANDEMICS: HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE Alan W. Clarke* ABSTRACT The 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as someone with a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Environmental refugees do not fall within its scope, nor does international human rights law adequately cover these migrants. If climate change results in widespread environmental damage, including massive ill-health for large parts of the world, there will likely be immense human suffering and potentially the greatest human migrations in all of humanity's history. Moreover, these refugees largely come from areas of the world least responsible for global warming. Wealthy societies largely caused the problem while the poorest suffer. This increases the moral obligation of the rich, polluting states to deal responsibly with the human rights issues raised by climate change. In this respect, our moral obligations and self-interest align. Human suffering leading to civil strife is in no one's interest, and our moral obligation to mitigate suffering that we caused and are responsible for is plain. This Paper argues that ifwe do not modify international law in order to deal with the inevitable human migrations spurred by climate change and its accompanying pandemics then suffering, strife, and violence will be the unavoidable outcome. A B ST R A C T ................................................................................................. 1 IN TR O D U CTIO N .......................................................................................... 2 I. HUMAN MIGRATION AND GAPS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW..................... 3 II. THE POTENTIAL FOR A HEALTH CATASTROPHE AND A MIGRATION C R IS IS ........................................................................................................... 6 III. MILITARIZED BORDERS ARE INEFFECTIVE ........................................ 10 IV. LINKAGES: DISEASE AND WILD WEATHER........................................... 12 V. CONCEPTUAL CHALLENGES....................................................................25 VI. TOWARD A SOLUTION TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS DILEMMA ............... 28 * Alan W. Clarke is Professor Emeritus at Utah Valley University, Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Visiting Scholar at York University's Centre for Refugee Studies. 1. United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, July 28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 137 at art. 1(A)(2).