Why antislavery governance must be embedded into global climate action
UN Human Rights Day marks the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. Dr Daniel Ogunniyi, Modern Slavery Lecturer at the University of Hull, discusses the impacts of climate change on human rights and argues that the time for action is now.
Like never before, the last five decades have witnessed unprecedented surge in greenhouse gas emissions into earth’s atmosphere. Deforestation, fossil fuel burning, and other human activities have degraded the viability of the earth’s ecosystem to sustain the lives that depend on it. Human and planetary lives have, in recent years, come under intense threats due to the impacts of climate change. Today, greenhouse gas emissions are, by far, at their highest levels in 2 million years and show little signs of waning. Evidence suggests that the last decade was the warmest in recorded history, with climate change manifesting itself via intense droughts, wildfires, water scarcity, flooding, rise in sea levels, diminishing biodiversity etc., in different parts of the world.
In response, global multilateral efforts have converged at differing levels to mitigate its impacts while devising various adaptation strategies. However, these measures almost exclusively focus on the existential threats posed by climate change and ignore the effects on actual and potential victims of modern slavery. Unlike the traditional forms of human rights violations attributable to state agents and other private actors, climate change has rather emerged as the invisible actor with severe and sometimes more devastating human rights impacts.
Despite the increasing threats of the climate crisis and its impact in driving exploitative work, its consequences are sometimes perceived as futuristic – with deleterious effects on future generations – while slavery, on the other hand, is often thought to be dead and buried in the past. Both assumptions are, however, erroneous. Climate change impacts and slavery are both alive and well today. The two intersect strongly and affect the lives of millions in many societies around the world.
The climate change-modern slavery nexus
The relationship between climate change and modern slavery is both fraught and complex. The interaction between the two shows a vicious cycle in which one is often induced by the other. Some have argued that ‘if slavery were a country, it would have a population of some 40 million people and the gross domestic product of Angola, in global terms a relatively poor nation, but it would be the third largest emitter of CO2 (2.54 billion tons a year) after China (7.527 billion tons) and the United States (7.282 billion tons)’.
This highlights the extent to which slave labour is driving climate change and destroying many ecologically vital places on the planet. However, the opposite is also true. Climate change has recently emerged as one of the main drivers of modern slavery. Many of the individuals that are forced to migrate due to the climate emergency are often trafficked into forced labour, including by the very industries that are degrading the environment, thus, completing a vicious circle whereby climate change drives, and is driven by, modern slavery.
Climate change impacts are adversely affecting individuals especially in low-income countries where the capacity to adapt is often minimal. The World Bank estimates that some 216 million people would be forced to migrate within their countries by 2050, while the hotspots of climate induced migration could emerge as early as 2030. Many of the displaced victims will be caught up in exploitative work that will worsen their vulnerabilities. Emerging evidence already affirms this.
It is noteworthy that modern slavery is also implicated in the global transition to renewable energy. The growing shift from fossil fuel to green energy has prompted investments in solar power, electric vehicles etc. This transition has been accompanied by increased exposure to modern slavery. For instance, a large proportion of global solar panels are sourced from the Uyghur region of China, where production is notoriously tainted by state imposed forced labour. The use of exploitative labour in Cobalt mining in the DRC has also been well documented. Climate change and modern slavery are thus strongly linked together with one reinforcing the other, even though global responses mainly target the former.
Mainstreaming antislavery efforts
In principle, global climate actions often emphasise mitigation and adaptation without any serious consideration of how climate change induces modern slavery. As one of the emerging threats to human rights, climate change requires a more integrated response. It is noteworthy that during COP27 in 2022, countries agreed to set up a fund to support states that were particularly vulnerable to climate change effects, while at the 2024 COP29 in Baku, ‘developed’ countries agreed to raise $300 billion annually by 2035 to help ‘developing’ countries deal with the climate crisis. However, modern slavery does not feature in these global dialogues.
The time has come to take the risks of climate-induced modern slavery seriously. A share of the funds dedicated to Loss and Damage (at COP28) should, for instance, be channelled to minimise the risks of modern slavery. Also, national authorities must actively pursue policies that protect climate displaced people from exposure to exploitation, while transition to renewable energy must go through a just and equitable process. Inaction will have severe consequences for modern slavery victims as the world becomes hotter and many more are forced to move in the years ahead.