The Refugee and Human Rights Sector

COIN’s Defending Rights Project aims to build a platform for civil society engagement on environmental migration and to defend the rights of those at risk of displacement linked to climate change. 

Climate change is increasing the burden on already vulnerable communities; extreme weather events, drought and sea level rise all bring with them the risk of human displacement. At present there are significant gaps in the legal and policy frameworks to protect those affected by environmental disasters and limited opportunities for people to move voluntarily. The debate about how we best respond lacks coherence and disunity brings with it the risk of one sector undoing the others good work.

COIN aims to bring disparate groups from across the human rights, development, humanitarian and environmental sectors together. We set up and coordinate the UK Climate Change and Migration Coalition, work with a group of ambassadors from the refugee and migrant community and offer training to groups and NGOs who are keen to explore climate and migration issues.  Notable because of its current absence we also want to strengthen a refugee and migrant voice in the debate. In bringing such unusual allies together, we believe we can build a robust case for change.

To learn more about the origins of the project as well as its current initiatives please follow the links below:

Current initiatives

Today our work focuses on the UK Climate Change and Migration Coalition, the Refugee and Migrant Forum and and network building across Europe. We also offer training for organisations and groups who want to know more about the issues. Read more…

Background to the project

The Defending Rights Project began in 2008. Since then it has carried out a range of initiatives aimed at increasing the involvement of the non-environmental voluntary sector in climate change issues. The earlier stages of the Project focused on initiating cross-sector discussions as well as developing a training programme tailored to Human Rights and Refugee NGOs. Read more... 

Resources

Looking for further information on climate change, migration and displacement? Please follow the link to see a full list of the resources that we have developed.