A/HRC/38/21 group or political opinion. Unsuccessful attempts by citizens of Kiribati and Tuvalu to claim refugee status in Australia and New Zealand illustrate the difficulties, under international refugee law, of claiming protection from climate change. 30 25. The above-mentioned Convention may offer protection to those affected by climate change in a limited set of circumstances31 where, inter alia: (a) a national authorities’ denial of protection from the adverse effects of climate change amounts to persecution; (b) national authorities use the negative impacts of climate change to persecute particular groups or individuals; and (c) serious human rights violations or armed conflict triggered by climate change causes people to flee based on a well-founded fear of persecution. In those cases, protection is centred on action/inaction by national authorities that constitutes persecution on prohibited grounds rather than the adverse effects of climate change. 32 26. At the regional level, the African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees have adopted broader definitions of the term “refugee” that increase the possibility of refugee status and protections applying to persons displaced by climate change. 33 The Convention extends refugee status to persons who, owing to events seriously disturbing public order, are compelled to seek refuge outside their country of origin or nationality. 34 Similarly, the Declaration extends the definition to persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by “massive violation of human rights or circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order”.35 2. Environmental law and policy 27. Environmental law, including climate change law, sometimes addresses human mobility and related protection needs. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development outlines the foundational principles of international environmental law, including common but differentiated responsibility, the precautionary principle, cooperation, responsibility towards future generations, access to information, participation, access to justice and sustainable development. Those principles are reaffirmed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which sought to realize human rights for all persons. The 2030 Agenda calls for international cooperation to achieve sustainable development and includes specific goals on orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration as well as climate change. 28. Key environmental law principles are also reflected in legally binding multilateral environmental agreements, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa. In recent years, the Conferences of the Parties to those Conventions have addressed human mobility. 36 29. The Framework Convention, its Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement under the Convention, call for States to act jointly and separately to mitigate climate change and adapt to its adverse effects, including the impacts of climate change on human health. 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 8 See Refugee Appeal No. 72189/2000 (New Zealand); Refugee Review Tribunal Case No. 0907346 (Australia); and Ioane Teitiota v. The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (Supreme Court of New Zealand, 2013). See W. Kälin and N. Schrepfer, “Protecting People Crossing Borders in the Context of Climate Change: Normative Gaps and Possible Approaches”, (2012), pp. 32–34. Available at www.unhcr.org/4f33f1729.pdf. Ibid. See also UNHCR, “Legal considerations on refugee protection for people fleeing conflict and famine affected countries” (2017). Available at www.refworld.org/docid/5906e0824.html. See B. Havard, “Seeking Protection: Recognition of Environmentally Displaced Persons under International Human Rights Law”, in Villanova Environmental Law Journal, Vol. XVIII (2007), pp. 76–77; and J. Cooper, “Environmental Refugees: Meeting the requirements of the refugee definition”, in New York University Environmental Law Journal, vol. 6 (2) (1998), p. 497. See Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, art. I. 2. See Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, art. III (3). See, for example, part two of the report of the Conference of the Parties on its thirteenth session, held in Ordos, China, from 6 to 16 September 2017 (ICCD/COP(13)/21/Add.1).