This was a humanitarian appeal by a married couple from Tuvalu, along with four of their five children, against their deportation liability. The primary issue on appeal is whether there are exceptional humanitarian circumstances in this family's case, given that the husband and wife cannot return to their home islands, that they have resigned from their jobs and are unlikely to regain employment in Funafuti, and that a return there will negatively affect the children's best interests.

Tribunal member Clayton, on July 15, 2024, allowed the appeal, ordering to grant resident visas to appellants and their children. The Tribunal canvassed the psychological harm arising from long-term exposure to slow-onset hazards such as climate change and a 2020 study on the mental health impacts of climate change on Tuvaluans.

BM (Tuvalu) v Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

BM (Tuvalu) v Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment - decision

Filed

This was a humanitarian appeal by a married couple from Tuvalu, along with four of their five children, against their deportation liability. The primary issue on appeal is whether there are exceptional humanitarian circumstances in this family's case, given that the husband and wife cannot return to their home islands, that they have resigned from their jobs and are unlikely to regain employment in Funafuti, and that a return there will negatively affect the children's best interests.

Tribunal member Clayton, on July 15, 2024, allowed the appeal, ordering to grant resident visas to appellants and their children. The Tribunal canvassed the psychological harm arising from long-term exposure to slow-onset hazards such as climate change and a 2020 study on the mental health impacts of climate change on Tuvaluans. 

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

A loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

Coastal zone and marine-related actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience to climate change

Actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience of societies and the economy to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Households employing domestic workers, for activities like cooking, cleaning and subsistence farming, for their own use.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector provides communication services, software development, and IT solutions.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

BM (Tuvalu) v Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment - decision

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance