Category: Experts in the Field

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Researcher Anna Oltman on Human Rights and the Politics of Asylum

14 May 2021 – conducted by Nikoleta Vasileva

In this interview, Dr Anna Oltman, researcher and lecturer at University College London, talks about human rights and the politics of refugees and asylum with Nikoleta Vasileva. She explains the key terms relating to migration and some common misconceptions in the Global North and society as a whole. She sheds light on the policy of deterrence that States adopt to discourage migration and how it affects refugees. Finally, Dr Oltman touches upon the role of gender and sexual orientation in asylum applications, as well as on some key takeaways from her research to benefit activists and displaced people alike.

Dr Oltman is a lecturer and researcher in international human rights with a focus on the politics of refugees and asylum. She has worked with several refugee resettlement agencies and is a committed advocate for displaced people and migrants regardless of immigration status. Currently, she teaches two modules on the politics of human rights at University College London and her research focuses on the institutional and political sources of compliance with international human rights agreements.

Take Aways

85% of refugees* worldwide are hosted in developing countries.  
73% of refugees* worldwide are hosted in neighbouring countries.  

*This includes refugees and Venezuelans displaced abroad  

39% of refugees are hosted in only five countries:  

Turkey – 3.6 million
Colombia – 1.8 million
Pakistan – 1.4 million
Uganda – 1.4 million
Germany – 1.1 million
Source: UNHCR https://www.unhcr.org/uk/figures-at-a-glance.html
Relative to their national populations, Lebanon hosted the largest number of refugees (1 in 7).  

Only a fraction of the millions displaced found a solution during 2010-2019, “A Decade of Displacement”  

40% of the forcibly displaced persons were children: An estimated 30 – 34 million of the 79.5 million forcibly displaced persons were children below 18 years of age.  
Source: UNHCR https://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends2019/
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Climate Adaptation Professional Rachel Jacobson on the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) and Migration Projects

16 April 2021 – conducted by Earth Refuge Correspondent James Sedlak

In this episode, Rachel Jacobson discusses the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP)’s role in supporting and connecting climate adaptation professionals to advance innovation in the field, including the issue of climate migration for both migrating- and receiving-communities. She highlights some of ASAP’s ongoing work which includes a Climate Migration and Managed Retreat Group and applied research projects in the Great Lakes (USA) region to create methodologies for projecting human migration that integrate future climate projections and stakeholder perspectives in the region. For more information about ASAP’s projects, including how to become a member, please visit https://adaptationprofessionals.org/.

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Researcher Melinda Martinus on Climate Change and ASEAN Urban Resilience

9 April 2021 – conducted by Gabrielle Utomo

Melinda Martinus from Jakarta, Indonesia, speaks with Gabrielle Lynn Utomo from the University of Pennsylvania about her experience working as a researcher in the Yusof Ishak Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, where she specializes in ASEAN urban policies surrounding climate change and urban resilience. She also shares insights about her work at an urban development NGO in Jakarta – a climate outlook survey in Southeast Asia – which you can read about here: https://lnkd.in/dXV5xXw

Melinda Martinus is a Lead Researcher of the ASEAN Studies Centre, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. Melinda’s research interests revolve around smart city initiatives, urban resilience, and institutional frameworks and policies for advancing climate ambitions in Southeast Asia. Before joining the Institute, she was a program manager at Kota Kita Foundation, Indonesia and a researcher at the Center for Metropolitan Studies (Centropolis) at Tarumanagara University Jakarta. Melinda studied urban planning at Tarumanagra University Jakarta and Columbia University in New York City.

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Former UN Human Rights Committee Member Professor Martin Scheinin on Climate Change and Human Rights Litigation

2 April 2021 – conducted by Earth Refuge Correspondent Nikoleta Vasileva

In this podcast, Professor Martin Scheinin – former UN Human Rights Committee member and the first UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism – discusses climate change and human rights with Nikoleta Vasileva. He shares a new line of argument for indigenous peoples’ litigation based on the intergenerational dimension of the right to culture. Referring to the increase in climate change-related human rights litigation, as well as with a fresh reading of older case law, Professor Scheinin explains how once this line of argument has been established, members of non-indigenous or non-minority communities will also be able to rely on it for human rights protection.

Martin Scheinin is a Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the European University Institute, a British Academy Global Professor at the University of Oxford, and a member of the Scientific Committee of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. He served as a member of the UN Human Rights Committee (the treaty body acting under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), and was the first UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism. He is currently working on a four-year project addressing a range of challenges to international human rights law posed by developments in the digital realm, and he retains an interest in human rights adjudication, first and foremost in issues of indigenous peoples’ rights.

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UN Assistant Secretary-General Satya S. Tripathi discusses female farmer ‘champions’ & the importance of a green COVID-19 recovery

12 March 2021 – conducted by Earth Refuge Correspondent Nikoleta Vasileva

In this interview, Mr Tripathi, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the UNEP New York Office, talks with Nikoleta Vasileva about the connection between climate change and COVID-19, as well as the importance of a green recovery and adaptation measures. He shares what he has learnt about development work during his career of nearly four decades, including the use of ‘private finance for public good’. Focusing on sustainable farming efforts in India, he tells the story of women farmers who should be championed and whose example should be followed elsewhere in the world.

A development economist and lawyer with over 35 years of varied experience, Satya S. Tripathi has served with the UN since 1998 in key positions in Europe, Asia and Africa in the areas of Climate Change, Human Rights, Democratic Governance and Legal Affairs.

Mr. Tripathi was instrumental in establishing the Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (TLFF) in Indonesia in 2016 and the Sustainable India Finance Facility (SIFF) in 2017 to leverage ‘private finance for public good’ at mega-scale to achieve transformative social and environmental impact in developing countries.

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Dr. Chris O’Connell on the Intersection Between Climate Change and Modern Forms of Slavery in South America

5 March 2021 – conducted by Earth Refuge Correspondent Aubrey Calaway

Earth Refuge Advisor Dr. Chris O’Connell talks with Aubrey Calaway about his research on the intersection of climate change and contemporary forms of slavery in South America. In addition to discussing vulnerabilities amongst indigenous populations in Bolivia and rural-urban migrants in Peru, Chris highlights the grave threats posed by extractive industries in the region. 

Dr. Chris O’Connell is a CAROLINE Research Fellow at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University. Chris holds a PhD in Political Science from Dublin City University, where his doctoral thesis analysed the influence of mobilised civil society on left-wing governments in Latin America. His current research examines the relationship between climate change, vulnerability and contemporary slavery in Peru and Bolivia. This research has received funding from the Irish Research Council and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 713279.

Webpage: https://www.dcu.ie/lawandgovernment/people/christopher-oconnell

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Climate Adaptation Innovator Mali’o Kodis on How to Build a Community around Equitable Solutions

26 February 2021 – conducted by James Sedlak

In the following interview, Mali’o discusses her work as a climate adaptation innovator, building communities around equitable solutions and how her work addresses problems of migration. She has over a decade of experience working in academic, government, and non-profit settings to advance program goals, protect healthy ecosystems and ensure community well-being.

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Climate Investor Priscilla Tyler on Climate Change and Technology

12 January 2021 – conducted by James Sedlak

Priscilla shares her valuable insights into climate change from a tech perspective. As a resident of California, she has also been “woken up year after year with ash on her sinks and smoke in the air”. The number of dry, warm and windy autumn days – which are ideal conditions for wildfires – in California has more than doubled since the 1980s. More than half of the acres burned each year in the western US can be attributed to climate change.