New Zealand rejects world's first climate refugee

Ioane Teitiota is attempting to become the world's first refugee due to climate change. The Kiribati native and his family recently lost an appeal to the NZ courts asking for refugee status. He claims his homeland is already in peril due to rising sea levels - his low-lying property is envisioned to be engulfed by the ocean in a matter of years. The island of Kiribati is expected to become uninhabitable in the not-so-distant future - saltwater intrusion, storms and flooding are causing environmental degradation and making it difficult to grow crops. The government of Kiribati has reached out to developed, wealthy nations asking for help - pointing out that these nations are primarily responsible for these climate change induced problems. The government has also bought land in Fiji and is considering building an artificial island for the anticipated uninhabitation of Kiribati.

Unfortunately, New Zealand's court of appeal has stated that Teitiota's situation is no different from that of most other Kiribati nationals, and warmed that acceptance of this proposal would be followed by streams of requests by millions of other people living in similar situations. While not specific to Tasmania, this is going to be a growing issue in the near future as climate change permanently alters environments and habitats. Particularly for islands in the Pacific and elsewhere, rising sea levels are going to drastically affect economies and societies. This debate is only going to get more heated - at what point do we acknowledge and accept that we are dramatically affecting our planet and harming the lives of people worldwide? Time will tell how this plays out for the residents of Kiribati - hopefully some countries will step up and help them bare the burden of this issue for which we all carry blame.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/worlds-first-climate-change-refugee-has-appeal-rejected-as-new-zealand-rules-ioane-teitiota-must-return-to-south-pacific-island-nation-of-kiribati-9358547.html

-Isabella