Re Pita
COURT OR TRIBUNAL
New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal
DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)
26/09/2023
LITIGATION TYPE
Constitutional and Human Rights / State Accountability
SUBJECT MATTER
Human rights and refugee claims
REVIEW TYPE
Merits review
SUMMARY
The Tribunal considered the impacts of climate change when undertaking their assessment of the appellant’s circumstances. See, for example, the below extract from the judgment:
[40] The Tribunal has also acknowledged how Tuvalu’s population has “adapted to living in a dynamic ecosystem” and that climate change is likely to continue to pose new threats and place stress on livelihoods, and that nationals are “likely to need support to adapt and manage disaster risks facing their wellbeing, livelihoods, and infrastructure”; see AV (Tuvalu) [2022] NZIPT 505532 at [25].
[…]
[43] Kiribati is considered to be the most vulnerable Pacific Island nation to climate change. In a recent decision, AW (Kiribati) [2022] NZIPT 802085 at [62]–[85], the Tribunal considered the adverse effects of climate change on Kiribati that include, inter alia, coastal erosion, depletion of marine resources, overcrowding and a lack of water and poor water quality; see also AF (Kiribati) [2013] NZIPT 800413. In AW (Kiribati), the Tribunal at [70] acknowledged climate change concerns impacting socio-economic and sociological environments, and exacerbating pre-existing development-related risks.
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