Month: August 2022

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A Case Study of Tai O: Are Hong Kong’s Policies for Climate Change-Induced Displacement Adequate?

January 2021 – by Chloe Ching, Bella Lo, Maria-Coletta Huda, Nathan Burgard & Ioannis Kyriacou

The below field research was conducted by law students from the University of Hong Kong in collaboration with Earth Refuge’s Legal Education Department. Not many edits were made to maintain the authors’ tone of voice.

The gravity of the impact of climate change upon Tai O’s community speaks to the necessity for measures to be put in place to urgently safeguard the rights of those living there. In the aftermath of the 2008 typhoon, detailed research led to new policies being brought into force, designed to protect Tai O residents from future climate-induced harm. However, there is a scarcity of follow-up research in recent years, which provides little accountability to the affected population following the implementation of such policies.

The needs of Tai O residents, obtained through surveys and in-depth dialogues, were consolidated in Tai O under climate change: A preliminary study into the sophistication of emergency responses of Tai O residents, a report put together by the Carbon Care InnoLab, the Tai O Sustainable Development Education Workshop and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute, with the help of other NGOs such as the Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association (the “2016 report”). Focusing on accounts of the aftermath of Typhoon Hagupit, the detailed impacts of climate-change-induced typhoons are also documented in the 2016 report. 

Building upon the perspectives brought to light by the 2016 report, this field research examines whether existing policies that are meant to protect Tai O residents are adequate. Before concluding, this report will also briefly provide suggestions of improvement. In order to conduct this research, authors of this report met with two NGOs, Tai O Sustainable Development Education Workshop (“Tai O Workshop”) and Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) Tai O Community Work Office (“YWCA”). They also talked to two representatives of the Tai O Rural Committee, which is the only officially-recognised bridge between the government and the community: Ho Siu-Kei, Chairman of the said Committee and an Ex-officio Member of the Islands District Council; Wong Yung-kan, Representative of Fishermen in the same committee (“Rural Committee”). These interviews were all conducted in Tai O in November 2021.

HKU x Earth Refuge Field Research: Tai O Hong KongDownload
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Stephanie Heder

Stephanie Hader is the Director of Legal Education at Earth Refuge. Alongside Co-founder Yumna Kamel, she runs innovative legal and field research programmes with law faculty students across Asia and North America. These interactive sessions serve a dual purpose, in that they not only allow Earth Refuge to put forward original legal arguments, but also help students to think about the law as a tool for change.

Stephanie Hader is a Penn LLM Graduate with experience in drafting government reports for both the Australian and German Parliament. She also holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Hong Kong. Outside of Earth Refuge, she is a researcher for the Institute of the North where she critically explores different theories of natural resource management.

When she is not researching, Stephanie is a Sofar Sounds Ambassador and reads Jorge Louis Borges, as he continues to rewire her perception of the world.

Email: [email protected]

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Zimbabwe: Climate Change Researcher Nyasha Turuza on Climate Change Realities in her Home Country

02 August 2022 – by Earth Refuge Correspondent Samantha Chinyoka

In this interview, correspondent Samantha Chinyoka was speaking with Nyasha Turuza from Zimbabwe. Nyasha is a Researcher in Climate Change who holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Dynamics and Climate Change and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies.She has contributed to key research whilst working with the Environment Management, Renewable Energy and Climate Change (EMRECC) Research Center at the Harare Institute of Technology, Zimbabwe, and has also collaborated with Africa Rise Foundation on addressing the Sustainable Development Goals. At present she volunteers for Advocates4Earth, an organization that works on environmental and climate justice issues.

During the conversation, Nyasha shares her experiences and real testimonies of women and girls living in Zimbabwe that have been most affected by the impact of the brunt of climate change. She highlights the need to well-educate and conscientize the communities on climate change, especially those whose views on climate change are centered on their traditional beliefs.

“In the child-headed families the elderly girls end up working as sex workers just to provide
for their younger siblings due to food poverty in the drought seasons.”

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Ottoline Mary

Ottoline recently completed her Master’s degree in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge. She believes that sustainable development is indissociable from global justice, and thus aims to take part in ethical initiatives in the fields of the defence of human rights, environmental protection, and the fight against financial crime. Currently interning as a Research Assistant with the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (Dharamsala, India), she joined Earth Refuge to deepen her understanding of climate-induced migration, and (hopefully!) contribute to raising awareness around said topic.

Outside of work, Ottoline spends most of her time watching horror films surrounded by her five cats.

Email: [email protected]

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Antonia Panayotova

Antonia looks after our digital platforms, ensuring our website and legal database work well and stay secure. She is passionate about technology, data, innovation, and accessible services. In her day-to-day, she works in the UK government testing ideas for how data can be used more effectively, ethically, and securely to create a better user experience for all.

Antonia is fascinated by ideas for how to use data and innovative technologies to create solutions for the most pressing climate problems too as sustainability is a personal passion.

In the time that’s left, she likes to keep busy with various outdoor adventure sports, travel, growing plants, and a bit of first aid volunteering.

Email: [email protected]

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Ilana Cohen

Ilana Cohen is an organizer with the Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard and Fossil
Free Research campaigns, a climate journalist and policy consultant, and a rising senior at Harvard where she studies the ethics of climate change and environmental policymaking.

Email: [email protected]

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Virginia De Biasio

Virginia De Biasio is a PhD candidate in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at the University of York. Her research interests are related to issues of global justice, distributive justice, the capabilities approach, environmental ethics, natural resources justice, territorial rights, and climate migration. Virginia’s PhD dissertation is on “Natural Resources Justice and Capabilities,” and it is supervised by Prof. Martin O’Neill and Dr Gabriele Badano. She has an MSc Politics, Economics, and Philosophy (University of Hamburg – 2017-2019) and a BA in Philosophy (University of Padova – 2014-2017).

Email: [email protected]

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Jake Clarke

Jake Clarke is an MA Migration and Diaspora Studies graduate from SOAS University of London. He’s touched on a range of migration-related concepts and cases, specifically dedicating his time and dissertation research on the intersection between disability studies and climate migration studies, conducting interviews to place the experiences of disabled people at the forefront of his research.

Jake has volunteered in the refugee sector with a range of NGOs in Greece, Calais, and at home in the UK. He lives by Dina Nayeri’s poignant assertation: “It is the obligation of every person born in a safer room to open the door when someone in danger knocks.”

In his free time, Jake has a passion for films and you will regularly see him at the BFI in Southbank, London. He is also a bartender, loves hiking, and is an avid sports enthusiast.

Email: [email protected]

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Ole ter Wey

Ole ter Wey is the Faces Coordinator of Earth Refuge. ‘Faces’ is meant to provide a platform for people directly affected by climate change, to reach a broader public with the important issue of climate migration, and to also inform the legal work of Earth Refuge. Ole is the contact point for people interested to share their experiences of climate change as well as for everyone interested in joining the correspondent team.

Ole recently graduated in International Law and Human Rights from the UN-mandated University for Peace in San José, Costa Rica. He previously lived with a local community in Kiribati for over a year. There, he experienced first-hand the consequences of climate change endangering the existence of an entire state.

When not studying or working, Ole is a passionate musician and crazy about football.

Email: [email protected]

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Robert Los

Robert Los is a law student originally from Hamburg between the state exams with a completed specialization in corporate and capital markets law. He is working as Research Assistant at a law firm and has dealt with the topics of migration and climate mainly in the context of voluntary work.

As part of a Hamburg subgroup of Lawyers Without Borders, he has been involved in a study on the legal protection of unaccompanied minor refugees, and with fellow students he is involved in setting up a Climate Clinic as well as an interpreter and adviser in social law and deportation cases at the local law clinic.

At Earth Refuge he is responsible for coordinating and driving research projects and the resulting development of legal media products such as the database and toolkits.

Robert is also passionate about politics, economics, music, and a little too much about all kinds of sports.

Email: [email protected]