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Communication to the government of Colombia about the humanitarian and environmental crisis suffered by the Afro-descendant Raizal people - reply

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Communication to the government of Colombia about the humanitarian and environmental crisis suffered by the Afro-descendant Raizal people - Other

Filing Year For Action

On November 15, 2022, seven UN Special Rapporteurs on the right to adequate housing, climate change, cultural rights, right to food, the right to health, rights of internally displaced persons, and discrimination against Afro-decendants, jointly issued a communication to the government of Colombia about the humanitarian and environmental crisis suffered by the Afro-descendant Raizal people of the islands of Vieja Providencia and Santa Catalina, after category 4 and 5 hurricanes Eta and Iota in November 2020. 
Nearly two years later, about 5,000 people still urgently need help with basic needs, including accommodation, health care, water, sanitation and food. The increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes in this region has been attributed to climate change, and has been long known and anticipated according to the communication. Allegedly, 95% of Providencia's infrastructure, houses and the only health center on the island were destroyed during the hurricanes, and many people were displaced. 
The post-disaster reconstruction efforts do not take into account the aspirations and recommendations of the Raizal people and their authorities, leading to deficient housing that ignores the Raizal’s way of life and customs, and the climatic conditions on the islands. The newly built homes are insufficiently adapted to future climate risks (e.g. adequate roof fixtures) leading to serious risk of rendering people homeless and causing death or injuries when the next hurricane hits. The Government has allegedly not improved the building code of the islands, nor ensured that infrastructure, especially health infrastructure, could withstand severe climatic events. The system of water collection for newly built homes was also insufficient. Houses in Providencia and Santa Catalina traditionally have systems of gutters and underground cisterns, used to collect rainwater and store it in tank with limited risk of being affected or destroyed by storms and lighter hurricanes. However, newly rebuilt housing lacked those essential cisterns, making the Raizal indigenous people dependent on external water supply, limiting their resilience to climatic events and contradicting the Raizal tradition of living in a self-sufficient in harmony with nature. Similar problems exist in relation to the ability to return to climate-resilient and self-sufficient ways of food production on the islands.
In September 2022, the Colombian Constitutional Court issued a judgment (T-333 of 2022) determining that fundamental rights to decent housing, drinking water, basic sanitation, health and a healthy environment of the Raizal people were not sufficiently guaranteed in the post-disaster reconstruction process. Amongst others, the Constitutional Court ordered the Government to ensure that reconstruction efforts are consistent with the Raizal’s cultural identity and strengthens the resilience of the islands in the face of the effects of climate change.
The UN Special Rapporteurs express concern that, to date, insufficient measures are taken to guarantee the Raizal’s way of life and to protect people from extreme weather events. The Raizal people have not received habitable, safe and culturally appropriate housing, nor adequate and non-discriminatory compensation for losses suffered. The Special Rapporteurs emphasise that failure to prevent the impairment of human rights caused by climate change, or refraining from mobilizing maximum of available resources to this effect, could constitute a violation of States’ human rights obligations under the ICESCR, and to take action to address the effects of climate change. 
Amongst relevant rights and instruments cited in support of the communication – in a separate Annex – are Articles 11, 12 and 15 ICESCR, pertaining to the right to adequate standards of living, including housing, the right to health, and right to culture; Article 17 and 27 ICCPR on the right to privacy, family and the home and right to culture of minorities; the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement; and UN Framework Principles on Human Rights and Environment.
On January 13, 2023, the Colombian government responded to the UN Special Procedures’ requests for further information through a document of over 100 pages detailing how the Government approached the reconstruction process, and which legislative frameworks and processes are in place to safeguard indigenous peoples’ rights, including cultural rights. It is aware that ‘climate change deepens inequalities, compromises food security and sovereignty and aggravates public health conditions’, including through increasingly severe weather events. It also aware of ‘the need to maintain policies that increasingly make it possible to close the historical gaps of less favored populations and that put human dignity as central axis of society’.

Communication to the government of Colombia about the humanitarian and environmental crisis suffered by the Afro-descendant Raizal people

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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.

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

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.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

People whose sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression differs from the majority or societal norms

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

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

This sector provides medical services, manufactures medical equipment, and develops pharmaceuticals to maintain and improve health.

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

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

Activities that provide lodging, food, and entertainment services to guests, including hotels, restaurants, and resorts.

Financial support to help individuals manage the effects of unexpected events, securing their livelihoods and increasing the resilience of people and businesses to the changing climate. It’s especially vital in developing regions where everyday risks, climate-related weather extremes, or crop failures can push people into poverty. Without insurance, people may have to resort to selling assets or cutting consumption to cope with losses.

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

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

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

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

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

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.

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.

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We include jobs which require a high amount of green skills or which spend much of their time on green activities, as well as jobs transforming polluting industries.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Direct investments by the governments using public funds. This can be to support climate initiatives or integrate climate into other projects.

Activities involving the management, development, and sale of property assets.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

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.

People who have left their homes, whether through force, voluntarily, or a mixture of both

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

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

Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

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

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

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

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

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.

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

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

Geohazards are adverse geological phenomenon's that are capable of causing widespread damage or loss to property, life and the environment, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. Climate change can increase the frequency and severity of some geohazards, such as landslides, and soil erosion.

Communication to the government of Colombia about the humanitarian and environmental crisis suffered by the Afro-descendant Raizal people - reply

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance