Erica Bower

✳️ Last month, I was moved by the stories of leaders and advocates from communities relocating due to climate change. 🤝🏾 Let's work together to put dignity at the center of every response to displacement. 📸: @HRW (thanks for facilitating the dialogue)   shorturl.at/4nLx7

I am no longer using this platform actively. Follow me on Bluesky here @ericarosebower.bsky.social

Sea level rise and other climate impacts are undermining the rights of the people of Walande, an Indigenous community in Solomon Islands. In a new report, HRW documents why Walande community members made the decision to relocate. Watch the full film: bit.ly/4bCHMhE

NEW: Intensifying climate impacts have displaced members of Walande and other coastal communities in Solomon Islands, threatening the enjoyment of their economic, social, and cultural rights. Read more: hrw.org/news/2025/03/1…

Policies on 'planned relocations' have become an imperative in a changing climate. Happening already in many Small Island Developing States but the writing is on the wall for many countries. #Loss&Damage⁩ ⁦@PaulaGaviriaB⁩ ⁦⁦@UNmigration⁩ ⁦@DDisplacement⁩

At COP29? Join this side event tomorrow where we tackle one of the most thorny aspects of the #ClimateCrisis. No community *wants* to abandon their home, but if it’s a last resort, how to plan a relocation in a dignified way? What role can human rights guardrails play?

👉Planned #relocations reduce communities’ risk of future #coastal #floods, but they do not eliminate it entirely – especially under high emissions scenarios and for moves with small-island destinations. 🔗Read more: nature.com/articles/s4324…

In contemplating movement in the context of climate change and disasters, we need ‘culturally sensitive approaches that maintain social cohesion and traditional environmental knowledge even when communities are relocated away from their ancestral lands’. devpolicy.org/wokbaot-wetem-…

NEW study: #Displacement across borders- Review of literature, legislation & case law to protect persons displaced across borders in the context of disasters & the #ClimateCrisis. Supporting the Global Compact on @Refugees. By W. Kaelin & H.E.C unhcr.org/media/no-43-di…

“Planning a relocation is about much more than just rebuilding houses… It’s about access to education; it’s about access to health care; it’s about preserving cultural heritage; it’s about every dimension of human needs”: ⁦@EricaRBower⁩ theworld.org/stories/2024/0…

Today we honor Blas Lopez, a Guna Indigenous leader who walked the talk of community-led, rights-respecting #climateadaptation. Tragically, he passed days after his community was given keys to their new, safer homes: a dream he'd worked towards since 2010. hrw.org/news/2024/06/2…

“Planned relocation in the context of disasters and climate change is already happening around the world and this is expected to continue, so why don’t we do it right?” @PaulaGaviriaB calls for a human rights-based approach to planned relocations at our joint side event at #HRC56

Mark your calendars: Join the Special Rapporteur @PaulaGaviriaB, @DDisplacement and cosponsors for a conversation on rights-respecting planned relocation in the context of disasters and climate change on 21 June in Geneva & online. More here: bit.ly/4cfV4zw

Great news on the planned relocation of Gardi Sugdub in Panama: “Time is of the essence: as climate change accelerates, the window during which we can all learn what makes planned relocation processes + outcomes more rights-compliant is quickly closing” nbcnews.com/news/world/hun…

📢📢Out now: Our paper highlights 3 fundamental tensions in #ClimateChange-related #PlannedRelocation: 1) conceptualizations of risk and habitability; 2) community consultation and ownership; and 3) siloed policy frameworks and funding mechanisms. link.springer.com/content/pdf/10…

The @KaldorCentre Principles on Climate Mobility are now published in the International Journal of Refugee Law academic.oup.com/ijrl/advance-a…

Gardi Sugdub provides a glimpse into what an Indigenous community-led, government-supported planned relocation as climate adaptation can look like, but there are lessons to be learned. Panama should draft a policy to safeguard rights in future relocations. hrw.org/news/2024/05/2…

"The Panamanian government is doing more than most governments around the world in supporting a community-led planned relocation in anticipation of long-term climate change impacts like sea level rise." via @EricaRBower hrw.org/news/2024/05/2…

Great piece on Panama's unmet promises regarding the Gardi Sugdub planned relocation & the need for a national policy to support community-led relocation with quotes from my colleague @EricaRBower, who authored hrw.org/news/2023/07/3… @hrw news.mongabay.com/2024/04/panama…

🚨 Don't miss the opportunity to contribute to my thematic report on climate change and internal displacement for the 56th session of the Human Rights Council. Deadline for submission: April 1st. #ClimateAction #HRC56 Full info: ohchr.org/en/calls-for-i… @DDisplacement