5. Climate Refugees in New Zealand - The Disappearing Island

Grab your coffee and join us on a sinking island in the middle of the Pacific, where the shoreline is moving faster than international law.In this episode, we follow the story of Ioane Teitiota, a man from Kiribati, one of the world’s lowest-lying island States, who asked New Zealand for protection when his home quite literally began to disappear under rising seas. Along the way, we unpack why there is still no such thing as a “climate refugee” in international law, and how States are dealing with the issue: From the principle of non-refoulement, to bilateral agreements, to digital twins in the metaverse. And we raise a question that international law is still struggling to answer: what happens when your life is at risk not from a dictator or a war, but from climate change?For any question or correction (because yes, we make mistakes), contact us at: [email protected]