Dominica: UN Expert Recommends Human Rights Approach For Advancing Climate Resilience
Dominicas ambition to become the worlds first climate resilient nation has made significant strides since 2017.
ROSEAU (14 May 2025) – Dominica's efforts towards climate resilience have been remarkable, a UN expert said today, urging the Government and the international community to rely on the human rights approach to consolidate achievements, recognize local innovations and civil society's contributions, and understand who was left behind from climate response and disaster recovery.
'Dominica has been able to secure a fast recovery after tropical storm Erika in 2015 and Hurricane Maria in 2017. These were catastrophic climate events,' Elisa Morgera, UN Special Rapporteur on climate change and human rights, said in a statement at end of her visit to Dominica, referring to loss of life, persistent mental health issues, destruction up to 90% of the housing stock and the loss of over 200% GDP.
'In the face of such dramatic human rights impacts of climate change to which Dominica does not contribute, high-emitting States should provide finance, as well as science and technology cooperation, to protect human rights, biodiversity and cultural heritage in proportion to their responsibility for the loss and damage experienced due to climate change in Dominica, without increasing its debt,' Morgera warned.
'Dominica's ambition to become the world's first climate resilient nation has made significant strides since 2017,' she added, noting cross-sectoral efforts to protect the rights to adequate housing, food, water, health and education, thanks to major investment of the national budget and the spirit of Koudmen – community cooperation, generosity and service.
'Shifting from top-down delivery towards transformative and collaborative approaches can further advance climate resilience,' Morgera said, 'through access to information, public participation in decision-making, and the prevention of discriminatory practices in the distribution of recovery and resilience resources.'
'Participatory approaches also contribute to paying more attention to the essential role of biodiversity and cultural heritage in climate resilience,' the Special Rapporteur added. 'This is particularly timely because of the expected expansion of tourism and imminent launch of land and marine spatial planning processes in the Nature Island of the Caribbean.'
The visit illuminated how transforming Dominica into a global resilience centre should rely on valuing and protecting the knowledge, practices and human rights of the Kalinago People – the largest remaining Indigenous peoples in the Caribbean islands, who have been the guardians of Dominica's nature and water sources for centuries.
Small-scale fishers and farmers, divers and other individuals and communities who live in close connection with nature are also making significant contributions to environmental and socio-cultural sustainability, as are young people and NGOs. 'But they are not recognised as trusted partners by the Government and face criticism for suggesting alternatives or mitigation measures,' the expert learnt during the visit.
'Dominica must urgently develop comprehensive legislation, through participatory processes, to protect human rights as part of climate resilience, including the rights of environmental human rights defenders, to prevent further environmental and cultural losses and support sustainable prosperity,' the Special Rapporteur said.
The visit also provided an opportunity to clarify the responsibilities of bilateral donors, International Financial Institutions and the UN System to prevent, and provide effective remedies for, human rights or environmental harm arising from climate resilience or development projects. The expert also urged these partners to provide direct funding to community-led and youth-led initiatives in Dominica.
The full report of the expert's visit will be presented to the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in July 2026.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
11 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Pacific Islands push hard as International Court of Justice set to deliver landmark climate ruling
'It will give new strength to climate litigation, inspire more ambitious national policies and guide states toward decisions that uphold their legal duties to protect both people and planet,' said Prasad. But some critics argue the ruling will be toothless, as ICJ advisory opinions are not binding and major polluters can choose simply to ignore it. 'Acts and omissions' The UN, pushed by tiny island state Vanuatu, asked the court to answer two questions. Firstly, what obligations do states have under international law to protect the Earth's climate from polluting greenhouse gas emissions? Secondly, what are the legal consequences for states which 'by their acts and omissions have caused significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment?' The second question was explicitly linked to the damage that climate change is causing to small, more vulnerable countries and their populations. This applies to countries facing increasingly damaging weather disasters and especially to island nations under threat from rising sea levels like those in the Pacific Ocean. 'David Vs Goliath' In what was termed a 'David versus Goliath' battle, advanced economies and developing nations clashed at the ICJ during December hearings on the case. The iconic Peace Palace in the Hague, the seat of the ICJ, played host to more than 100 oral submissions – the largest number ever, many from tiny states making their first appearance. Advanced economies and developing nations clashed at the ICJ during December hearings. Photo / Getty Images 'This may well be the most consequential case in the history of humanity,' said Vanuatu's representative Ralph Regenvanu, opening the two weeks of hearings. 'The outcome of these proceedings will reverberate across generations, determining the fate of nations like mine and the future of our planet,' he told the 15-judge panel. Major polluters argued the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was sufficient and new guidelines on countries' obligations were not necessary. US representative Margaret Taylor said this framework was 'the most current expression of states' consent to be bound by international law in respect of climate change'. Taylor urged the court 'to ensure its opinion preserves and promotes the centrality of this regime'. Meanwhile, the speaker from India was even more explicit. 'The court should avoid the creation of any new or additional obligations beyond those already existing under the climate change regime,' said Luther Rangreji. The United States, under President Donald Trump, has since pulled funding for the UNFCCC and withdrawn from its landmark pact, the Paris climate agreement. 'Watery graves' But smaller states said this framework was inadequate to mitigate climate change's devastating effects. 'As seas rise faster than predicted, these states must stop. 'This court must not permit them to condemn our lands and our people to watery graves,' said John Silk from the Marshall Islands. After bitterly fought UN climate talks in Azerbaijan in November, wealthy countries agreed to provide at least US$300 billion ($504 billion) a year by 2035 to help developing nations transition to clean energy and prepare for an increase in extreme weather. The vulnerable nations argued this is simply not enough and urged the ICJ to push for more. 'This is a crisis of survival. It is also a crisis of equity,' said Fiji's representative Luke Daunivalu. 'Our people ... are unfairly and unjustly footing the bill for a crisis they did not create. 'They look to this court for clarity, for decisiveness and justice.' -Agence France-Presse
Scoop
13 hours ago
- Scoop
150 (And Rising) Aotearoa Writers Demand Immediate Gaza Ceasefire
Today an open letter was sent to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters from 150 of Aotearoa's writers, demanding they take urgent action regarding the atrocities in Gaza. 'We ask all people to join in our call for compassion, for reason and for mediation. 'For the over 57,000 Gazans killed, and for the survivors — starving, wounded, and scarred for life: 1. We demand the immediate unrestricted distribution of food and medical aid throughout Gaza by the UN. 2. We demand that sanctions be imposed on the State of Israel if the Israeli government does not heed this call, which is also the world's call, for an immediate ceasefire. 3. We demand a ceasefire which guarantees safety and justice for all Palestinians, the release of all Israeli hostages, and the release of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners arbitrarily held in Israeli jails.' 'This genocide implicates us all. We bear witness to the crimes of genocide, and we refuse to approve them by our silence.' The full letter and list of signatories are below. For more information, contact Mandy Hager, 027 5053020 or email Background: In May 2025, 380 UK and Irish writers signed an open letter calling for an end to the genocide. The UK writers generously shared their wording, which, in turn, was adapted from a similar open letter drafted by France's writers. All the signatories refuse to be bystander-approvers as crimes of war and crimes against humanity are committed daily by the Israeli Defence Forces, at the command of the government of the State of Israel, amounting to genocide. The host of the open letter, Mandy Hager, says, 'we will continue to gather names and update the list, in order to keep up pressure on our government to speak out and act in accordance with UN Human Rights legislation, and to show our support for the Palestinian people caught up in this horror.' Those authors/writers who wish to add their names, can see the post at: The letter: We, the undersigned writers of Aotearoa New Zealand, ask our government and the peoples of the world to join us in ending our collective silence and inaction in the face of horror. Eighteen months ago, the Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada was killed by Israeli airstrikes. In her poem 'A Star Said Yesterday,' she imagined for the people of Gaza a cosmic refuge — something utterly unlike the constant lethal danger they now face: 'And if one day, O Light All the galaxies Of the entire universe Had no more room for us You would say: 'Enter my heart, There you will finally be safe.' The government of Israel has renewed its assault on Gaza with unrestrained brutality, including the recent abhorrent killing of hundreds of people as they queue up for food in a mockery of humanitarian aid. Public statements by Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir openly express genocidal intentions. The use of the words 'genocide' or 'acts of genocide' to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organizations. Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and many other specialists and historians have clearly identified genocide or acts of genocide in Gaza, enacted by the Israel Defence Force and directed by the government of Israel. On behalf of the UN, and published by the office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, over 40 Special Rapporteurs and independent experts recently concluded: 'While States debate terminology — is it or is it not genocide? — Israel continues its relentless destruction of life in Gaza, through attacks by land, air and sea, displacing and massacring the surviving population with impunity,' the experts said. 'No one is spared — not the children, persons with disabilities, nursing mothers, journalists, health professionals, aid workers, or hostages. Since breaking the ceasefire, Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians, many daily — peaking on 18 March 2025 with 600 casualties in 24 hours, 400 of whom were children.' Palestinians are not the abstract victims of an abstract war. Too often, words have been used to justify the unjustifiable, deny the undeniable, defend the indefensible. Too often, too, the right words — the ones that mattered — have been eradicated, along with those who might have written them. The term 'genocide' is not a slogan. It carries legal, political, and moral responsibilities. Just as it is true to call the atrocities committed by Hamas against innocent civilians on 7 October 2023 crimes of war and crimes against humanity, so today it is true to name the attack on the people of Gaza an atrocity of genocide, with crimes of war and crimes against humanity, committed daily by the Israeli Defence Forces, at the command of the government of the State of Israel. Recently, Alexis Deswaef, vice-president of International Federation of Human Rights and a lawyer at the International Criminal Court, recalled the concept of the 'bystander-approver,' drawn from the special tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. It refers to a senior official who looks on, remains silent, and whose silence is interpreted as a green light by the perpetrators. We refuse to be a public of bystander-approvers. This is not only about our common humanity and all human rights; this is about our moral fitness as the writers of our time, which diminishes with every day we refuse to speak out and denounce this crime. In taking this stand, we assert without reservation our absolute opposition to and loathing of antisemitism, of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli prejudice. We reject and abhor attacks, hate and violence — in writing, speech and action — against Palestinian, Israeli, and Jewish people in all and any form. We stand in solidarity with the resistance of Palestinian, Jewish, and Israeli people to the genocidal policies of the current Israeli government. We ask all people to join in our call for compassion, for reason and for mediation. For Hiba, for the over 57,000 Gazans killed, and for the survivors — starving, wounded, and scarred for life: 1. We demand the immediate unrestricted distribution of food and medical aid throughout Gaza by the UN. 2. We demand that sanctions be imposed on the State of Israel if the Israeli government does not heed this call, which is also the world's call, for an immediate ceasefire. 3. We demand a ceasefire which guarantees safety and justice for all Palestinians, the release of all Israeli hostages, and the release of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners arbitrarily held in Israeli jails. This genocide implicates us all. We bear witness to the crimes of genocide, and we refuse to approve them by our silence. Signed: Dame Fiona Kidman Dr Patricia Grace Harriet Allan Marilyn Duckworth Fleur Beale Dr Pip Adam Catherine Chidgey Tina Makereti Lawrence Patchett Brannavan Gnanalingam Elspeth Sandys Kapka Kassobova Bill Manhire Laurence Fearnley Claire Mabey Emma Neale James Norcliffe Kirsten McDougall Marian Evans Jo Randerson Tim Corballis Gavin Strawham Courtney Sina Meredith Chris Tse Emma Hislop Damien Wilkins Briar Grace-Smith Rebecca Macfie Eirlys Hunter Catherine Robertson Whiti Hereaka Jane Arthur Phillipa Werry Mandy Hager Dr Debbie Hager Nicky Hager Chris Price Nadine Hura Jeffrey Paparoa Holman Paul Maunder Tusiata Avia Hinemoana Baker Dr Thom Conroy Dr. Kirsty Baker Andrea Bosshard Rebecca Priestley Gayna Veter Mia Farlane Kristen Phillips Jared Davidson Bill Nagelkerke Maria Gill Mark Derby Lucy Wilson Angelique Praat Romesh Dissanayake Pamela Gordon Sylvan Spring Lois Cox Hilary Lapsley Saige England (Palestinian Solidarity Network of Aotearoa) Sacha Cotter Kathleen Gallagher Anne Bennett-Eustace Josh Morgan Gail Ingram Tim Jones Latika Vasil Harvey Molloy Roly Andrews Jordan Hamel Brigid Feehan Freya Daly Sadgrove Always Becominging Ash Davida Jane Joan Fleming Cello Forrester Rose Lu Nic Low Olive Nuttall Lynn Jenner Sarah Jane Barnett Toby Boraman Geoff Palmer Gina Cole Michelle Elvy Alison Glenny Ingrid Horrocks Tom Doig Kate Duignan Lynn Davidson Tihema Baker Carolyn McCurdie Madeleine Slavick Marilyn Garson Cybèle Locke Sally Blundell Kim Hunt Emma Barnes Anna Jackson Michaela Kebble Peter J King Andrea Christofidou Vana Manasiadis Sue Wootton Ya-Wen Ho Kanya Stewart Paul Panckhurst A.J. Ponder Janet Charman Paula Green Bridie Lonie Ariana Tikao Marty Smith Sue Fitchett Miriam Saphira CNZM Dr Miriam Larsen-Barr Diane Brown Philip Temple Margo Montes de Oca Tracey Slaughter Gregory O'Brien Jenny Bornholdt Amanda Hunt Loren Taylor Cherllisha Silva Fiona Lovatt Christine Leunens Claire Orchard Melanie Koster Miriama Gemmell Sharon Lam Ian Wedde Nola Borrell Jiaqiao Liu Tokorima Taihuringa Kate Evans Modi Deng Erik Kennedy Melinda Szymanik Ronnie Smart Eva Wyles Trevor Hayes Elena de Roo Michelle Duff Michalia Arathimos Caren Wilton Mark Forman Kyle Mewburn Craig Cliff
NZ Herald
13 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 93 aid seekers
Deaths of civilians seeking aid have become a regular occurrence in Gaza, with the authorities blaming Israeli fire as crowds facing chronic shortages of food and other essentials flock in huge numbers to aid centres. The UN said this month that nearly 800 aid-seekers had been killed since late May, including on the routes of aid convoys. Like 'hunting animals' In Gaza City, Qasem Abu Khater, 36, told AFP he had rushed to try to get a bag of flour but instead found a desperate crowd of thousands and 'deadly overcrowding and pushing'. 'The tanks were firing shells randomly at us and Israeli sniper soldiers were shooting as if they were hunting animals in a forest,' he said. 'Dozens of people were martyred right before my eyes and no one could save anyone.' The WFP condemned violence against civilians seeking aid as 'completely unacceptable'. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties. The army says it works to avoid harm to civilians and that this month it issued new instructions to its troops on the ground 'following lessons learned' from a spate of similar incidents. Israel on Sunday withdrew the residency permit of head of the UN OCHA (United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs) office in Israel, Jonathan Whittall, who has repeatedly condemned the humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in a post to X, accused him of spreading lies about the war in Gaza. Papal call The war was sparked by Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to the deaths of 1219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 58,895 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday expressed his regret to Pope Leo XIV after what he described as a 'stray' munition killed three people sheltering at the Holy Family Church in Gaza City. At the end of the Angelus prayer on Sunday, the Pope slammed the 'barbarity' of the Gaza war and called for peace, days after the Israeli strike on the territory's only Catholic church. The strike was part of the 'ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza', he said. The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, held mass at the Gaza church on Sunday after travelling to the devastated territory in a rare visit on Friday. 'Expanding' operations Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war and there have been repeated evacuation calls across large parts of the coastal enclave. On Sunday morning, the Israeli military told residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in the Deir el-Balah area to move south immediately because of imminent operations in the area. Whole families were seen carrying what few belongings they have on packed donkey carts heading south. 'They threw leaflets at us and we don't know where we are going and we don't have shelter or anything,' one man told AFP. The displacement order was 'another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip', the UN OCHA said on Sunday. According to the aid agency, 87.8% of Gaza is now under displacement orders or within Israeli militarised zones, leaving '2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12% of the Strip, where essential services have collapsed'. The army's latest announcement prompted concern from families of hostages held since October 7, 2023, that the Israeli offensive could harm their loved ones. Delegations from Israel and militant group Hamas have spent the past two weeks in indirect talks on a proposed 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 10 living hostages. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas' 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. – Agence France-Presse
